Mr Carter Told Me To
by super maria
Summary: Cliff is just a puppet. But is Carter the puppeteer? And what's going on, anyway?
1. The Winery Job

"Thanks, Claire. For the job," Cliff said, after Manna and Duke had offered it to him, which he had happily accepted.

"Seriously, don't thank me. It was all… uh… Ann's idea!" Claire said, hoping it would change his view on things.

"I only took the job because Mr. Carter told me I was going to stay in this town," Cliff said, unaware that Manna was watching.

"We have to thank you too, you know. Why don't we go out and eat one night? Tomorrow?" Manna suggested.

Claire sighed, realizing she was unable to escape it.

"Okay. I guess I could," Claire replied, waved goodnight and headed for her farm.

"Well, see you tomorrow!" Cliff said, happily walking to the church.

"I don't know… there's something odd about that boy. It's like he lives in that church," Duke said, who popped his head out to say goodbye.

"I know. Oh, well!" Manna said and the two returned to their home.

* * *

"I'm glad you actually came! I thought you'd skip out on it!" Manna said as Claire sat down at their table.

"That was an option?" Claire asked, seriously.

"Ha! No, it wasn't," Duke replied, almost scarily.

"Uh… why don't we just start eating," Cliff said and the four pounced upon the meal before them.

"Wow. You guys are hungry," Ann said, scratching the back of her head, confused.

"Well, I haven't eaten over a week," Cliff explained while Claire said, "Me, two months."

"Well, I could last for the whole year," Cliff shouted back.

"Why are you two fighting?" Ann asked, even more confused.

The two shrugged and continued eating.

Ann sighed and returned to the kitchen, muttering, "What weirdoes…"

"Hey, why are you so hungry?" Claire asked Manna and Duke, her mouth full of food.

"We're just messy eaters," Duke said as he ate an apple, whole.

Claire and Cliff stared at him for a moment and then shook their heads.

Finally, they finished the meal, ready to return home.

Duke nudged Cliff and he sighed.

"Could I walk you home?" Cliff asked, obviously not wanting to.

"…No, I'm fine," Claire said and left the Inn.

"Oh, well. Try again next time," Manna said.

"When will you guys learn…" Cliff murmured to himself.

Manna and Duke left, while Cliff called, "Bye, Ann!"

He then left for the church.

* * *

"Hi, Carter!" Claire said cheerfully as she entered the church.

She then turned to Cliff and said, "You too!"

"Hello, Claire," Carter said, shaking his head until Claire returned her attention back to him.

"So, what brings you here?" Carter asked.

"Just wanted to say hi to Cliff, that's all," Claire said.

As she turned back to Cliff, Carter began shaking his head again.

"Well, hi, Claire. I need to get back to the winery soon," Cliff said as Carter began to nod.

Claire coughed, nervously and then held out a gift wrapped in white wrapping paper, tied in a pink bow.

"Uh… What is it?" Cliff asked.

"That's why I wrapped it. I don't want you to know until I leave," Claire said.

When she shut the church doors, she quickly put her ear to the door, eager to know his reaction.

Carter grabbed the present from Cliff, not caring that his smile died when he did so, and tore it into shreds.

"Don't do that again. Ignore her more often. Oh, and Cliff?" Carter said.

"Yes, Mr. Carter?" Cliff asked.

"Remember the goal," Carter muttered and then the slamming of a door was heard.

"Hmmm… weird," Claire said.

"Tell me about it," Popuri said, who was standing right next to her.

"Please give me some warning before you do that again," Claire said, shivering with surprise.

* * *

"Hi, Ann," Cliff said as he entered the Inn.

Ann smiled pleasantly and replied, "You've never come around this time before. What's up?"

"Well, with the new job and all…" Cliff said but let his voice trail off.

"Okay, I understand," Ann said, preparing to go upstairs and clean.

"Uh… Ann?" Cliff called.

"Yes, Cliff?" Ann called back, pleased that she had something to do other than clean.

"…This is hard for me to say… can we go someplace?" Cliff asked.

"Okay… uh... Why don't we go to the Harvest Goddess Spring?" Ann suggested.

"…If that's all you can think of," Cliff said, but through Ann's eyes it was almost an insult.

The two walked out of the Inn, just as Doug emerged from the kitchen.

He looked around, wondering where Ann had gone, but shrugged, thinking she was somewhere, cleaning again.

"So, what do you have to tell me?" Ann asked, comfortably sitting beside the Spring.

"…It's not really say…" Cliff said as he reached into his pocket.

Ann went dead silent as he pulled out something blue.

"A blue feather? Are you nuts? What the heck does it mean?" Ann said, a whirlwind of ideas catching her mind every second.

"…Well… Mr. Carter told me that I had to marry you," Cliff said.

"…What?" Ann said, stating plainly that the idea was mad.

"…Uh… Mr. Carter told me to?" Cliff said, still seeing no fault in his words.

"Why the heck would Carter tell you to do something like that?" Ann shouted, angrily.

"I don't know… but he did," Cliff murmured, standing up.

He left the area silently, while Ann muttered, "What a weirdo."

* * *

"…Hmmm… I haven't been to see Carter today. I wonder what he's up to," Claire said, cheerfully as she skipped along the path of her farm toward the town.

As she neared the church she got an uneasy feeling, as if something bad was happening.

"I told you to build it up over time!" someone shouted from inside the church.

Claire put her ear to the door so she could listen to the conversation, although she was frightened by the anger in the voice she'd heard.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Carter," someone said whom sounded like Cliff.

"And never ever say that I told you to!" Carter shouted.

"Okay…" Cliff said but got no further as a creak was heard.

Cliff and Carter's heads whipped around towards the door.

Outside, Claire was waiting for them to continue.

"I don't mean to be rude but," Claire jumped at the sound of the voice, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, hi, Popuri. I was just listening to… uh… birds," Claire lied, and terribly at that.

She then looked back to see the door open and Cliff standing before her.

"Uh…" was all Claire said before Carter shouted, "Get her!"

Claire started running before anyone could understand the situation, but was quickly followed by Cliff, who had begun chase.

Popuri just stood there, surprised, until Carter grabbed her and hauled her inside.

"Hey, Cliff!" Ann called from the Inn but soon realized something was wrong as he continued to chase after Claire.

"What… A… Weirdo…" Ann said slowly as Doug came out.

"…What just happened?" he asked.

"Never mind," Ann said, returning to the Inn.

"Cliff, stop! Why are you chasing me?" Claire asked as they ran by her farm, almost out of breath.

"…I wish I could tell you," Cliff muttered but was surprised when Claire stopped running.

"What are you doing?" Cliff asked as he, too, stopped running.

"What the heck is going on?" Claire asked, exasperated.

"…Do you promise not to tell anyone?" Cliff asked after a moment.

"Okay," Claire replied, stepping closer.

"Well, I can show you," Cliff said, gesturing to the church.

Claire stayed silent as she suspiciously looked at him.

"At night! Of course," Cliff blurted out, surprised he hadn't mentioned it.

"…Okay," Claire said, wondering how she'd gotten so caught up in the entire scheme so easily.

She knew something was going on but she didn't know how long it had been going on for and how big it really was.

They then started to walk back to the church, in Claire's mind, a last attempt to save Popuri.

* * *

Hiding behind the church, Cliff and Claire tried to stay silent but as Carter started to search, Cliff immediately leapt out of their hiding place, grabbed Claire and said, "Here she is!"

Claire suddenly wondered if Cliff had betrayed her or if this was his plan all along.

The fear in his eyes suggested one thing but as Carter dragged her inside the church, she started to regret her choice.

"Um… Dad! Could you go to the church and give Carter his lunch?" Ann asked as she watched the scene from afar.

"Why can't you?" Doug asked lazily, biting into an apple as he flipped through an oven magazine.

The true reason in Ann's mind was that she thought they were kidnapping girls, but Ann didn't mention it as she said, "Just do it, okay?"

Ann shoved the boxed lunch into Doug's full hands and he was forced to get up, close his magazine, put away his apple and go to the church.

At the church, Carter smiled and thanked Doug for his lunch.

Doug looked around the church and said, "For some reason, Ann was frightened of coming here,"

"Oh, really?" Carter chuckled.

As soon as Doug left, Carter immediately said, "Ann might be on to us."

"Okay… so?" Cliff asked as he stepped out of the confessional room.

"Well, we'll have to capture her," Carter said, as if it was obvious.

"But I thought-" Cliff began but Carter went on to say, "Actually… that might be a good idea…"

"But the whole point of this was-" Cliff said, but was once again cut off as Carter glared at him.

"Oh, by the way, I don't think Ann likes me," Cliff said.

"Well, you'll have to change that," Carter said and the two went to check on their prisoners.

* * *

"Okay, let's test it," Carter said, standing before Popuri as he poured a purple liquid into her eyes.

"Popuri, who am I?" Carter asked.

"Carter. Why do you ask? You forget?" Popuri chuckled, although she was not awake.

"And who is this?" Carter asked as he gestured to Cliff.

"Cliff. Why are you asking such strange questions?" Popuri asked.

"And what happened when you visited the church?" Carter asked.

"I came for a few hours, asked you some pointless questions and left. What?" Popuri asked, her eyes flickering open.

"Okay, you will report to the church every Sunday, right?" Carter asked.

"Of course. I always do, don't I?" Popuri said.

"Good. Now deal with Claire, Cliff," Carter said.

Cliff headed over to the other girl who was tied to a chair and forced a purple liquid down her throat.

"This isn't over," Claire said, after she'd drunk the liquid, only to fall asleep as Popuri had.


	2. Cliff's Mine!

The bright and sunny Claire skipped over to the church, the birds singing behind her as her smile broadened.

She was making her way past the library when Cliff came into her mind, and as he did, she tripped.

"Are you alright?" Mary asked, who rushed outside to help her up.

"Yes… I was just thinking," Claire said and Mary chuckled.

"Hey! What's so funny?" Claire asked, embarrassed.

"Well, that happens to me a lot. When I'm thinking I always bang into things," Mary said, smiling shyly.

"Well, thanks. Who are you, anyway?" Claire asked.

"I can't believe you've never met me! I'm Mary," Mary said, holding out her hand.

Claire ignored her and said, "I've got to go," as she felt a twitch in her leg.

"Uh… alright… and come by to the library some time!" Mary called as Claire ran away.

Some instinct was guiding her to the church, and it was making her run faster.

As she ran past the supermarket, Sasha came out and tripped as Claire flew by.

"Watch where you're going!" Sasha called, more as advice.

Finally, Claire came to a screeching halt outside the church, her smile never fading until she opened the doors.

Inside, she saw Ann and Cliff talking, laughing and briefly holding hands.

Anger welled up inside Claire as she stomped over to the pair, rage burning in her eyes.

"Hi, Claire," Ann said, her eyes never moving from Cliff's.

Cliff was nervously looking around himself but said nothing to Claire.

"What the hell is going on here? Yesterday you wanted nothing to do with Cliff," Claire shouted, as Carter walked out of the confessional.

"Where did you get that idea?" Ann said, staring at Claire for a moment.

"Are you an idiot! Can't you remember?" Claire shouted, her bright and sunny manner disappearing.

"Uh… I'm sure you can work this out," Carter said, interrupting the quarrel.

"Hey, Carter!" Cliff called and quickly ran away to escape the presence of the two girls.

"Where are you going, Cliff?" Ann asked, genuinely concerned.

"Uh… nowhere," Cliff muttered, sitting down and mumbling to himself.

Carter coughed, drawing everyone's attention and he said, "Claire, come with me."

"Why?" she asked but he just stared into her eyes until she 'obeyed.'

The two walked into the confessional room and left Ann and Cliff alone.

"What's up with her? Weirdo," Ann said but as the words came out of her mouth, she remembered the night that Cliff, Claire, Manna and Duke had eaten at the Inn.

"Hey… Do I really like you? I thought…" Ann said, beginning to remember the 'proposal.'

"Uh… Carter?" Cliff called, but he didn't appear.

"Oh, my god! I really do hate you!" Ann said, horror entering her eyes. "Weirdo…"

Her eyes narrowed as she fled from the church, wondering what they'd done to her.

"Wait, Claire!" Ann said to herself, realizing one of her only friends was destined for a (most likely) terrible fate.

"Ann!" Doug called from the Inn and Ann decided to return to the Inn, as she knew she couldn't help Claire without endangering herself.

Back at the Inn, Doug said, "Ann, I've seen you spending time with that boy, Cliff."

"Dad, there's something weird going on in that church and Cliff's a part of it!" Ann said, quickly.

"…Has this got anything to do with what happened yesterday?" Doug asked, preparing to take Ann to the Hospital.

"Yes, and we have to go there before it's too late! Claire doesn't have time!" Ann said.

"Hello, Ann! What are you talking about?" Popuri asked, passing by on her way to church.

"We have to go to the church and save Claire! She's in trouble," Ann said, hoping to convince someone other than her father.

"…Alright. If you seriously think that," Popuri said and the two set off for the church.

Only when she stepped inside did Ann remember Popuri had been taken into the church as a prisoner yesterday.

It was too late to run.

She'd fallen into Carter's trap.

* * *

Meanwhile, Claire was once again tied to a chair, and she remembered everything.

_How could I be so foolish_, she thought, trying her hardest to untie herself.

She stopped as Carter dragged Ann in, who was struggling more than Claire had been.

"What the heck is going on here?" Claire shouted, but received no reply, as she had expected.

"Deal with Ann," Carter said as Popuri and Cliff entered.

"Hey, Ann?" Claire said.

"Yes, Claire?" Ann replied as she continued to struggle against Popuri and Cliff.

"Tell me you don't like Cliff," Claire said, not struggling at all.

"What the hell?" Ann cried as Popuri finally shoved a spoonful of a purple liquid down her throat when Ann stopped struggling to stare at Claire.

Cliff sighed and walked into the corner after this, while Popuri put the purple liquid into Claire's mouth as well.

"I'll remember… just like last time," Claire said as she drifted off to sleep.

"Cliff… why do I have to be hypnotized but you don't?" Popuri said after a moment of silence.

"Firstly, how did you know you were hypnotized? And secondly, because… I don't know…" Cliff said.

"And another thing… why do you call him **Mr. **Carter?" Popuri asked.

Silence followed.

* * *

"Working on the farm never fails to exhaust me," Claire said as she wiped the sweat off her face with her handkerchief. "I need a break."

Suddenly, Claire decided to go to the church.

She had no idea why, but something inside her told her to go to the church.

"Hi, Mary," Claire said as she past by the library, as she never took a different route.

"Claire…" Mary said but she said no more as Claire walked off into the distance. Suddenly, Claire didn't feel like going to the church anymore.

She actually had no idea why she was going there in the first place.

As she looked around herself in confusion, she decided to go see Cliff at the winery.

She was entering the winery when she saw Ann talking to Cliff, again.

And like before, anger welled up inside her, along with sadness.

"Hi, Claire," Manna said, giving both Cliff and Ann warning of her arrival.

"There really is something odd about that boy," Duke said, as he poked his head out the door like the first time Cliff had met him.

"Hi. Uh…" Ann said, shuffling her feet nervously.

Cliff sighed and said, "I'm going to the church."

"Really… odd…" Duke said.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow," Ann said, waving goodbye.

After Cliff was out of sight, Claire pushed Ann against the wall and said through gritted teeth, "You will not see him tomorrow, understand?"

"Claire, what's gotten into you?" Ann asked, brushing dust off herself after Claire let her go.

"Nothing," Claire said and then walked after Cliff.

* * *

"Hello, Claire," Carter said as Claire entered the church, seeing Cliff sitting in his usual spot.

"Hi, Carter," Claire replied, almost ignoring him.

"You know, I was praying in the confessional and I heard a voice. It told me I was in for some good fortune," Carter said, his smile so fake, Claire could've sworn he'd had plastic surgery.

Just then, Zack entered, waving hello to Claire but heading straight for Carter.

"That thing you wanted, they finally found one," he said, seriousness dripping from his words.

"Really?" Carter beamed, his smile somehow stretching further.

"Yes. I can deliver it tomorrow but I've got to get going now. Something about Popuri," Zack muttered as he left the church.

"I guess that voice was right. I should go to the confessional more often," Carter said, genuine happiness in his eyes.

"What was that about?" Claire asked, pointing to the door.

"That's a secret… He, he," Carter said, chuckling evilly along with an evil grin.

Claire dismissed his attitude, thinking he was, in no way, acting strangely.

"Hey, Cliff!" Claire said, directing her attention towards him instead.

She sat down next to him but as she glanced up at Carter for a moment, she saw him whip his hands behind his back and whistling.

Cliff shuffled further to the side, away from Claire, making her sigh.

_Why is Cliff trying to avoid me?_ Claire thought, painful thoughts of all the times Cliff had ignored her.

Anger replaced the torment as she remembered moments with Ann.

Before Claire pondered the matter longer, Ann strolled in, wearing a long, blue gown and her hair untied as she walked towards Cliff with a mischievous smile on her face.

"Hurry up, Cliff, or we'll be late," she said, her hair swaying back and forth as she closed in on the three.

"Yes, hurry up, Cliff," Carter said, almost angrily, surprising Claire, but not making her suspicious.

"Uh… Cliff?" Claire said as Cliff stood up.

"Yes, Claire?" Cliff replied, hoping she would stall them.

"Nothing. It was nothing," Claire answered, feeling foolish for not expressing her feelings.

"Okay," Cliff said and he walked out, hand in hand with Ann.

"So… just us… Oh, please, Popuri, hurry up," Carter muttered under his breath.

"Sorry about the lateness!" Popuri said, having some unusual polite aura around her.

"It's alright," Carter said, although it was clear in his eyes that it was not alright.

"Hi, Popuri," Claire said as she stood up and left.

As soon as the doors shut, Carter said rapidly, "Okay, now that she's gone, let's get out of here."

Claire stopped in her tracks, suddenly realizing she'd left her rucksack in the church.

She turned to enter the church to retrieve it but as she opened the grand doors, she came to utter silence.

She shrugged as she grabbed her rucksack in the empty room, deciding she'd visit the Library for a change.

* * *

"This is a surprise! Nice to see you here, Claire," Mary said, cheerfully as the library door opened, revealing a blonde, exhausted girl.

"Why are there so many people here?" Claire asked as she noticed Gray, Harris, Doctor, May and a person she was not yet acquainted with in the room.

"People like to read books, you know," Mary said, not sure if Claire meant her comment as an insult or otherwise.

"I just never really expected… oh, well," Claire said as she searched one shelf.

"What are you looking for?" Gray asked from her side.

"Uh… anything about farming, I guess," Claire said, an idea popping into her head.

"Go upstairs. There's some really good tactics," Gray said as he returned to his book.

"Thanks," Claire said, not bothering to wonder if Gray cared for her words, as she made her way up the stairs.

"Hmmm…" Claire mumbled as she searched the shelves.

Finally, she came to the last shelf and pulled out a helpful looking book, only for the floor to give way.

She rubbed her head as she said, "What the heck?"

Her confusion continued as she realized she was not in the first floor of the library at all.

She gulped as she noted the room, as it looked like a lab and she was in a cage, a prisoner.

Suddenly, she began to remember many things about the church, Carter and Cliff.

"What the heck is going on here?" Claire called into the empty prison, hands clutched to the bars, wondering what the whole scheme here had to do with the church.

"Look, we're not your enemies," Mary said as she approached her, Doctor in tow.

"Why am I starting to remember things?" Claire asked, thinking they would lie.

"It's a formula in the air," Doctor explained, stepping in front of Mary for a moment.

"…Okay… but what's going on in the church? And what's going on here?" Claire asked, wanting lies to ease her curiosity instead of the plain truth, as she knew it would be shocking.

Mary and Doctor stood in silence until Mary finally said, "This should help."

She sprayed some sort of liquid into her cell and in the blink of an eye, images flashed through her mind.


	3. The Library VS The Church

"Claire, are you alright?" Doctor asked, his most frequent patient in the hospital bed.

Claire's eyes blinked open slowly but gaped wide when she realized what had happened a moment ago.

Before she started blabbering everything, Doctor silenced her with a quick movement of his hand, and then said, "You can't say anything out loud. Oh, and by the way, don't give yourself away this time. Unless you want Carter to brainwash you again."

Claire went silent, realizing Doctor was one of the _good guys_.

"I now know a lot of things about what has happened but… I still don't know what Carter's plan is," Claire said, sitting up in the white bed.

"Well… it's sort of… it's classified," Doctor explained, although not that much.

"So, can I go?" Claire asked.

"I guess. You're not really ill or injured so, okay," Doctor said, making room for Claire to leave.

As Claire left the room, she realized that there wasn't just something weird going on with _the church_, but there was also something weird going on with _the library_.

But the main thing in her head was, _I've got to help Ann!

* * *

_

"Hello, Ann," Carter said as the red headed girl entered the church, in search of Cliff.

"Hello, Carter," Ann replied, barely noticing him as she walked about the room.

"Hello, Claire," Carter said as the blonde farmer entered the church.

"Oh… Claire," Ann said, rage bubbling inside her at the mention of her name.

"Hi, Ann," Claire replied, although her eyes showed there to be no pleasantry in her mind.

"…Hello," Carter said, hoping they wouldn't fight.

"I'm looking for Cliff. You wouldn't have happened to have seen him, Claire?" Ann asked, hatred streaming through her fake sweet voice.

"No. I haven't," Claire stated plainly, her entire body quivering with fury.

"Let's take this outside," Ann muttered after glancing at Carter.

Outside, Ann immediately shouted, not even caring if Carter interfered or not, "Get this straight, blondie! Cliff likes me, got it?"

"I understand, but there is something else I have to say… away from here," Claire whispered, grabbing Ann's arm gently.

"I don't care what you have to say! I'm out of here! I have to find Cliff," Ann said as she pulled her arm out of Claire's gentle grip and left, her blue eyes sparkling with rivalry.

Claire sighed and decided she had to get as far away from the church as possible for the time being.

Back at the farm, Claire noticed Cliff, standing at her door.

"Cliff, what are you doing here?" Claire asked, her sickle in hand.

Cliff jumped, surprised with her sudden appearance, but as he calmed down, he replied, "I have to tell you something, Claire. Something important," Cliff said and guided Claire into her own house.

"What is it?" Claire asked, pleased she was finally going to get answers.

"Claire… the church isn't what it seems. Carter, and I'm ashamed to admit it but, with the help of me, brainwashed many people and are using-" Cliff said but was cut off when Claire said, "I already know all that."

"…Didn't the brainwashing liquid work?" Cliff asked, confused.

"No. I just remembered recently," Claire lied, feeling no pressure as she did so.

"Well… you know now," Cliff said, feeling stupid.

"Okay, even though that wasn't informative in the least, why did you attempt to tell me?" Claire asked, deciding she could find out something.

"…This is hard for me to say… it's just… I guess… Claire… I've got a crush on you," Cliff said, then quickly shut his mouth.

"…You do? You don't like Ann? You… like me?" Claire asked, blushing more and more.

"…Yeah," Cliff said plainly.

"Hey, why don't you tell me more?" Claire asked all of a sudden, making Cliff sigh.

"I'm sorry… I guess I just don't like you… enough," Cliff said and then left.

Claire then wondered why _the library_ wouldn't tell her more.

"Maybe I should pay them a visit," Claire said as she walked out the door, although there was even more news to astound her...

* * *

"Hi, Ann," Cliff said as he entered the Inn.

Ann smiled pleasantly and replied, "You've never come around this time before. What's up?"

"But he was here at this exact time only a few days ago-" Doug said but went silent as Cliff replied.

"Well, with the new job and all…" Cliff said but let his voice trail off.

"Okay, I understand," Ann said, preparing to go upstairs and clean.

"Uh… Ann?" Cliff called.

"Yes, Cliff?" Ann called back, pleased that she had something to do other than clean.

"…This is hard for me to say… can we go someplace?" Cliff asked.

"Okay… uh... Why don't we go to the Harvest Goddess Spring?" Ann suggested.

"…If that's all you can think of," Cliff said, but through Ann's eyes it was almost an insult.

The two walked out of the Inn, as Doug shrugged at the odd conversation, no suspicions in his mind, as he didn't hear their conversation the last time.

"So, what do you have to tell me?" Ann asked, comfortably sitting beside the Spring.

"…It's not really say…" Cliff said as he reached into his pocket.

Ann went dead silent as he pulled out something blue.

"A blue feather?" Ann asked, placing her hands gently around it.

"…Well?" Cliff asked, blushing obviously now.

"…YES! Yes, Cliff, I will marry you!" Ann exclaimed and kissed him quickly.

Cliff was so surprised by this act of affection that he fell into the Spring, with the blue feather.

For a moment, Ann wasn't sure if he was going to resurface.

Ann then reached into the water and pulled him out, wondering what had made him stay underwater.

"What happened?" she asked quickly, standing up with him to walk back to the Inn.

"Something… was pulling me under… oh, and this is my only pair of clothes so I've nothing to change into," Cliff said, beginning to walk with Ann.

"…You mean, the whole time you've been here, this is the only pair of clothes you've worn?" Ann asked, pausing in her spot as she looked him up and down, disgusted.

Cliff stayed silent to prove his seriousness but then the two walked back in silence, deciding to tell Doug the news.

As they passed by Claire's house, Ann said, "Why don't we tell Claire?"

Cliff nodded and the two walked to the house's front door.

Ann knocked on it, but before she knocked on it again, more impatiently than the last time, Cliff said, "At this time of day, she's probably not at home."

Ann decided that this was likely and walked on to the Inn with Cliff in tow.

* * *

"Hi, Claire! I'm surprised you returned," Mary said as Claire entered the library, a smile planted on her face which refused to move.

"Why are you so happy?" Gray asked, who, for a moment, looked very depressed.

"…No reason!" Claire chirped, and then walked toward a random bookcase and grabbed a book to read.

Gray and Mary stared at her, oddly, as she rifled through the pages.

"I'm just leaving," Gray said, disturbed by Claire's happiness.

"Oh, Mary, you know how there's a secret organization and a lab under the library, right?" Claire said, her eyes not moving from the book and her smile not moving from her face.

"Uh… Uh… Yeah?" Mary asked, so disturbed by Claire that she was unsure of everything around her.

"Well, I was wondering **what the hell is it, really?**"Claire asked, her voice changing into a serious one, mid-speech, lowering the book so she could glare at Mary with fiery eyes.

"…You'll have to talk with the other members," Mary said after a lot of thought.

"Thanks! By the way, who's in charge?" Claire asked, her sunny and bright manner returning as she closed the book and walked over to Mary.

"…I… Well… The Mayor…" Mary said after a lot of hesitation.

"Thanks! Can I take this book?" Claire said, placing the book she'd been reading onto the receptionist desk.

"…Oh, thank goodness! Something I can **do**! Yeah, you can take it but return it in a week," Mary said, but as Claire rudely left the library without another word, she muttered, "Or not."

* * *

"Okay, Mayor Thomas! The gig's up! What's going on in this town?" Claire asked, holding her hand in the position of a gun.

"…Uh… As I was saying, Ellen…" Thomas said, but said not a word more.

"Sorry, I'm acting really weird lately… but seriously, let's go back to your house for some private interrogations," Claire muttered, her threat serious.

Thomas returned to his house, freaked out.

"So… the church is brainwashing people and I hear that you're the leader of the gang who spend their days in the library. And have a lab underneath it… I'm not too surprised. I don't think anyone else would have enough money to do that," Claire said.

"…Claire, are you alright?" Thomas asked, noticing the accent Claire had put on to suit her interrogation.

Claire coughed twice and then a third time, straightened her hair, clothes and sat down on a chair until she finally said, "Mayor Thomas. Some weird things have happened at the church lately and people have been brainwashed. Me, twice. Now, I know you have an underground lab beneath the library so tell me what's going on! I just want to do something for the good guys," Claire said.

"Wait, good guys? There's no sides… what the hell, it doesn't matter. Okay, here's the plan. We need to send someone in on the inside and destroy them from within," the Mayor explained.

"And what can I do?" Claire asked, excited.

"You have to wait patiently for that to happen," Thomas explained.

"…Wait, what? I have to wait? But that's what I've been doing all this time! I mean, I know that Carter wants Cliff to marry Ann! Isn't that something?" Claire asked, outraged.

"…You know more than we do," the Mayor said, staring into the hypnotic eyes of Claire.

"Well, I'm glad I helped," Claire said, standing up.

Suddenly the front door burst open and Ann came in, followed by Cliff.

"Oh, there you are, Claire! Guess what? Cliff and I are getting married!" Ann said, hoping to inspire jealousy in Claire.

She then ran out, dragging Cliff with her but Claire saw the sadness in Cliff's eyes as he stared at her.

"…Well, Carter's getting further in his plan! We have to deal with him!" the Mayor said and ran out to the library.

Claire slowly left the house as well, noticing Harris beside her and the two watched the sun set.

"What happened in there?" Harris asked, pointing into his and the Mayor's house, as he had heard shouting.

"Stuff," Claire muttered and walked back to her farm.

* * *

The next day, the rain poured down, and Claire sighed, reading the labels on the bottles of medicine in the hospital.

"Hey, where's the Doctor?" Claire asked Elli, as it was a Wednesday.

"He's doing what he always on rainy Wednesdays. He goes, buys a bottle of wine, and visits Carter. They talk and then-" Elli began to explain.

"Wait, what? He goes to _Carter_?" Claire asked.

She gasped, thinking that Doctor was working Carter and not even considering that this is what the Mayor had prepared.

She ran out of the hospital without even so much as a 'goodbye' to Elli and ran through the rain to the church.

And sure enough, on that rainy Wednesday, with a bottle of wine, Carter and Doctor were talking, like buddies.


	4. One Step Closer

"Doctor? What are you doing here?" Claire asked, stepping forward with anger in her eyes.

"I come here every rainy Wednesday," Doctor said.

"For how long? When did this start?" Claire asked, now standing before them but her eyes were locked onto Doctor, menacingly.

"For as long as I can remember," Doctor said, thinking.

Claire covered her eyes, feeling sorry for him, knowing he was gone.

"Well, actually, it was that winter about 6 years ago," Carter said and the two began talking again.

"…I'm leaving," Claire said, tears literally in her eyes.

The doors closed and Carter said, "She knows. Catch her."

"Uh… okay," Doctor said, completely like someone who was **not** brainwashed but more like someone who was drunk.

* * *

"It's so unfair," Claire muttered to herself as she drank the wine she'd bought.

"What is?" Doug asked, acting as your local bartender.

"It's not something you'd understand," Claire mumbled, glaring at her drink as though it had done something terrible.

"Girl stuff, huh?" Doug asked, cleaning a mysterious glass that had appeared in his hand.

"No… I don't think anyone could understand my story," Claire said, staring at the light bulb as though it had done something terrible.

"Okay, suit yourself," Doug said, almost taking Claire's wine from her, but she snarled at him before he could do anything.

She looked around herself, knowing that there was so much behind the kind exterior of Mineral Town but knowing that there was nothing she could do about it.

No one else was in the bar, which was odd, but Claire thought that by now, everyone would be on one side or the other.

The Library or The Church.

Claire sighed, only then noticing that someone had entered the room.

It was Ann, Claire's rival, the main reason she was here that night.

"Hi, Claire," Ann said cheerfully, knowing that she'd won the war for Cliff, once and for all.

"Hey…" Claire said, her mood only darkened when she sat down next to her.

"Oh, you're only sad because Cliff proposed to _me_ and not to you which means he loves me!" Ann said, noticing Doug shaking his head in disapproval, but ignoring it.

"You know, sometimes I wish I could tell you the truth so you'd wake up and we could go back to being friends… well, we weren't exactly friends before but…" Claire said, becoming silent as she forgot what she was going to say and then drinking more.

"Uh, Ann? Can I talk to you in private?" Doug asked but giving her no choice when he grabbed her arm and dragged her into the kitchen.

"This place sucks… I'm out of here!" Claire shouted, drinking her wine, stealing another bottle and running back to her farm.

"Ann, I don't think that's what she is so miserable about. I'm sorry about this but… Ann, stop being so rude for once! Shut up!" Doug shouted, feeling he was taking charge for once but only found an astonished Ann in front of him.

"And wait a second! You're marrying Cliff? Why wasn't I informed of this?" Doug asked, anger in his old eyes.

"Dad, I told you earlier! You and your old age," Ann muttered.

* * *

"So, in one week, the plan will come forward," Carter said, his servants before him.

"I don't see why **I** had to marryAnn," Cliff muttered, turning away from Carter with his arms crossed.

"I told you, that's just the way it is," Carter responded, turning to his other mind slaves.

"Uh… hypothetically, if someone working for you got a crush on someone they weren't supposed to, what would happen?" Cliff asked, nervously.

"…You like Claire, don't you. I knew she would get in the way!" Carter began shouting.

"I said hypothetically!" Cliff said, but shrank back after a moment when he realized Carter wasn't paying any attention to him.

Zack, Doctor, Popuri and Jeff stared at Cliff, who blushed, due to the sudden amount of attention he had received.

"Look, we're going to have to _eliminate_ that girl," Carter said, finally falling silent.

"And I want **you **to do it," he said, hatred brimming from his words.

Cliff gulped, knowing 'eliminate' was not a good thing.

* * *

Claire made her way out of the bar, hoping to get home in one piece, when Cliff walked past.

"Claire!" he called with joy, walking up to her, smiling.

"What do you want?" Claire asked rudely, looking away.

"It's late. Shouldn't you be at home?" Cliff asked.

"What's it to you?" Claire asked, her eyes glancing at him for a moment.

Cliff looked at a nearby bush and saw Popuri and Jeff nodding.

"Nothing. But I could walk you home," Cliff murmured as he turned back to her.

Suddenly, Claire turned back into her normal self and said, while blushing, "Sure."

When they finally arrived at Claire's house, with no one around, Cliff said, "You know, I don't really want to marry Ann."

"Then why are you marrying her? I know something **big** is going on here, but I've got no idea about what any of it is!" Claire said, her rage for not knowing what was going on building up inside again.

"…Claire. If I show you everything that's going on… They'll kill me," Cliff said.

"…Who's they?" Claire asked.

"Wait! Let me finish! Claire… I would die for you… but it's up to you," Cliff explained.

Claire was silent, turning Cliff's words around in her head.

"Cliff. I don't understand, why can't you **tell** me?" Claire asked.

"Because… because… they're watching right now," Cliff said.

"Who is **they**?" Claire asked, holding Cliff's arms so he couldn't run.

"…Some are allies… others, enemies… but there's someone else… someone else who wants to kill us all… I've said too much!" Cliff shouted and ran away.

"What the hell is going on?" Claire asked herself, looking around for anyone who might be watching until she gave up and went inside.

* * *

"We saw you Cliff… Humiliating yourself… You **must** eliminate her. But we don't want to arouse suspicion… _eliminate_ her after your wedding," Carter said.

"You know there's only one reason why I'm working for you," Cliff muttered, in the corner of the church.

"Yes. That is why I use it to manipulate you," Carter explained.

"He's such a teenager," Jeff murmured to Zack before they continued their work.

"Uh… my brother will get worried if I'm this late home… I have to go… or he'll think I'm seeing someone," Popuri said and then left.

"Cliff, you're the only one who can fulfill this plan, and the only one in our way is that stupid gang of misfits," Carter said.

"And they have the Mayor as their leader… that's why they'll never see the truth," Zack said.

"True. Such a pity. Now get back to work!" Carter snapped.

* * *

The first light of dawn breaking, the first bird singing, the first awake.

Mary looked out her window, seeing the sublime view, she smiled, pleased she lived in Mineral Town.

She yawned, got up and stretched, deciding to go to the library early.

"Don't get into trouble," Anna reminded her daughter as she left the house, although she felt no need to.

Mary smiled even though, thinking, _I can't promise that._

She unlocked the door, looked around the book filled room and smiled again.

So far, her day had been great, and she already saw the book she was reading on her desk.

When she finally prepared herself for a day of silence, Harris burst in.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Mary asked, scared out of her mind.

"Well, I checked your house first. Don't worry, I won't bother you. I just need to get to the lab," Harris explained and ran upstairs.

Mary sighed, opening her book and breathing in the old, musty smell, living in it, until the door burst open again.

This time, Gray muttered, "Business."

He did the same as Harris, although he had his arms crossed the entire time.

Mary sighed again, hoping she would be left in peace for the whole day to read her book.

"Hey, Mary," Doctor said.

"For goodness sake, go upstairs but please, don't bother me!" Mary shouted, slamming the book she'd been reading down onto her desk.

Doctor shrugged, went upstairs but didn't follow Gray and Harris to the lab, but instead began to read.

"Finally," Mary muttered, opening her book again and adjusting her glasses.

"Hi, Mary!" Claire said as she came in.

"What the hell are you doing here at this time of day, you freak?" Mary shouted, unlike her normal self completely, her hair out of place, her glasses placed crookedly on her nose, her book almost torn in half by herself.

"…Well, everyone else was coming in so I figured… I'm just going to the lab," Claire said, feeling left out again.

She walked slowly upstairs but then noticed Doctor reading books, and she jumped in surprise.

She quietly walked over to him and said, in the most surprising way she could, "Hello, Doctor!"

"Wow, you scared me. Hi, Claire," Doctor said, although there was no change of expression on his face as he said his words.

"…Doctor… why were you talking to Carter that day?" Claire asked, staying far enough away to not be caught by Doctor.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"I knew it! I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn you in," Claire said, grabbing for his arm.

While stretching his arm away, Doctor said, "I was sent in undercover, moron."

"…Oh… Oh! Well, that was a stupid assumption," Claire said and then headed for a certain bookcase in search of the underground lab.

Once inside the lab, with no one around, Claire burst into tears, allowing her emotions to overwhelm her.

"Uh… Claire?" Harris asked.

"Oh, someone's here…" Claire said but then trailed off.

"Uh… Claire?" Gray asked, beside Harris but still thinking there to be something wrong with Claire.

Gray decided that she just expressed her emotions a lot more distinctively, like the time she'd been _happy_.

"Uh… Claire? I guess I should introduce myself," the unknown person from the first time she'd entered the library said.

"Yeah, who are you?" Claire asked, wiping her tears away as she noticed May in the room.

"Hi, I'm Aja. I'm sure you've heard of me. I mean, you helped Cliff to get a job at my parents winery. Well, it's actually named after me," Aja said.

"Be quiet, Aja," Harris said as he pulled her back.

"I see what she inherited from her mother," Claire said. "But more seriously, what's the next plan?"

"If Carter wants this wedding, then we've got to stop it. At least it should be that simple. Thomas wants a big, technical plan. Personally, I think you should do it," Gray said.

"Why?" Claire asked, suddenly freaked out.

Gray stayed silent but his smirk was evident.

"You mean, you saw that thing last night with Cliff? So people were watching," Claire said.

Before their _conversation_ continued, the Mayor approached, a list in his hand.

"What's that?" May asked, pointing to the papers high in the Mayor's hand.

"My plan to stop the wedding," the Mayor explained.

"Here we go again," Gray muttered while Aja, Harris and May mumbled incoherent things.

"Oh, and Claire? You're a part of this," the Mayor said.

Claire stared fiercely back at him, ready for what seemed to be a challenge.

"But not you Aja. Anyway…" Thomas said.


	5. Speeding Up

"So, this plan of the mayor's, how does it go again?" Claire asked, beside Gray whom was crouching in a bush which was outside the church.

Gray sighed, annoyed that she'd forgotten the plan already.

"You go in, distract Carter and anyone else in there enough to leave the church, I go in afterwards and sneak around," Gray muttered.

"Yes, but why me?" Claire asked.

"Because you go there a lot!" Gray muttered angrily.

"Fine. So, is there any distraction I'm supposed to use?" Claire asked, lowering her voice as she heard a noise inside.

"No. He said you were distracting by nature. What he meant by that, I don't know, so take it as a compliment, if you like," Gray said.

"Okay… see you on the other side," Claire said as she entered the church.

"Oh, hello, Claire," Carter said, smiling at the sight of her.

"Hi, Carter," Claire said, only slightly nervous.

"What are you doing here today?" Carter asked, hoping she wouldn't say 'Cliff.'

"Well, it's just that I saw something in the middle of the Town Square and I'm not sure if it's a festival because your place I can enter but everyone else has locked their doors," Claire said, making up lies as she went along.

"…Okay… weird," Carter said as he walked towards Claire.

Just when Carter was a little too close, Claire said, "Alright! I'll tell you the truth. It's a surprise birthday for… uh… Anna!"

"Now I know you're lying. Anna's birthday was yesterday," Carter said.

"…Uh… You see… Well… Um… It's just… a late surprise birthday party?" Claire said, trying to look innocent.

Preparing for the worst, Claire jumped and as she did so, Carter tried to grab her.

She began to run, running at top speed out of the church but was soon followed by Carter.

Gray quietly sneaked into the church, his eyes on the fleeing Claire the whole time and when he turned around, he saw Popuri before him.

"Hello, Gray," she said even though she was prepared for battle.

* * *

"See you, Cliff," Ann said as she prepared further for her wedding.

Cliff nodded, even though he knew Ann wasn't looking at him, and walked to the door.

When he opened it, Claire and Carter rushed by, surprising Cliff but also filling him with excitement.

He had no idea what drove him but he began to chase after Carter.

"You'll never catch me!" Claire said as she ran, turning to face Carter for a moment.

When she turned back she crashed into a field of potted flowers outside the hospital.

Carter smiled, realizing he was going to catch her, but then fell over when something tripped him.

He turned around and saw that Cliff had tackled him to the ground.

"What are you doing, Cliff! Catch her!" Carter shouted as the embarrassed Cliff stood up and chased after Claire, who'd taken the moment of confusion to continue fleeing.

"What's going on?" Elli said as she walked out of the hospital and straight into the path of Cliff, barreling her over.

"Sorry about that. You know kids these days," Carter said as he chased after them.

"…Weird," Elli said and walked back to her home.

Claire had made it to the town square but was having trouble to decide which way she should go next.

She turned around and saw Cliff closing in on her so she leapt to the beach.

"Oh, no! I have nowhere to go!" Claire mumbled to herself and collapsed, knowing she was defeated.

"…Hi, Claire," Cliff said and Claire got up, surprised to see Cliff standing far away from her, waving.

"What?" she spat.

"…I'm going to let you go… because I know you'll suffer a much greater pain and I'd rather not leave you a trembling wreck…" Cliff said.

"…You're letting me go?" Claire murmured but when she turned around again, Cliff was no longer standing there.

She stood up and decided to return to the library.

"She went to Won's shack. Zack will get her," Cliff said to Carter and the two walked back to the church.

* * *

Meanwhile, Gray was cracking his knuckles, preparing to fight Popuri.

"Say your last words!" Popuri muttered and then the two ran toward each other, fire burning in their eyes.

The church doors creaked open, causing Gray and Popuri to stop shrieking their battle cries.

"Oh, crap. I hate you, Claire," Gray mumbled, preparing to be brainwashed as Carter and Cliff walked towards him.

* * *

"What is it, Claire?" Mary asked as the blonde farmer entered the library, panting.

"Stuff," Claire muttered as she collapsed onto the chair Gray usually occupied.

Mary gasped and said, "Where's Gray?"

"Oh, no! He's still back in the church! Carter's probably already got him," Claire said.

"…Well, you'll have to tell the Mayor," Mary said.

"I guess you're right," Claire said as she prepared to go to the upper level of the library when she heard Mary mutter very quietly, "Yes!"

"What was that about?" Claire asked, turning completely around.

"Nothing," Mary said too quickly as she returned to her book.

Claire continued on her way and as she entered the underground lab, she felt like it was an everyday thing.

"Hello, Claire. Where's Gray?" Harris asked when he noticed the exhausted girl.

"…He's gone," Claire said, sadly.

"…Oh my," Harris replied as he hurried of to tell Thomas.

"What?" the Mayor called out, furious.

"It's true," Harris said and Claire was then joined by May, Aja and Doctor.

"They've taken one of my soldiers yet Claire always makes it out. She'll be a very important asset," the Mayor said, though only Harris could hear him.

"You know, I think the only reason Claire has gotten so far is because of Cliff," Harris said.

"Yes, I know. I know, Harris," the Mayor said as he walked out to talk with the group.

"What happened to Gray?" Aja asked.

"…He's gone now," the Mayor said.

"Who said that," someone said from the entrance to the underground lab.

"Gray?" Claire asked as she turned around to stare, amazed, like all the others, at Gray.

"It's all thanks to Cliff. He really is an ally," Gray said as he walked forward.

"…I think you should go to the hospital, Gray," Doctor said, staring at the wound Gray had.

"Don't worry about that. Listen, when I got captured, they took me into the confessional. Everything was white so I couldn't see a thing but eventually, they pushed me into a chamber. When everyone had left but Cliff, he helped me escape but before then…" Gray explained as he reached into his pocket and retrieved an old piece of parchment.

"Yes!" the Mayor said while the others cheered, leaving Claire to wonder what that parchment meant.

"Oh! I now know why he wants Cliff to marry Ann! And why he wanted Cliff in particular to do it!" the Mayor said when the others had leaned in to listen.

"Wait… Ann… Cliff… Oh my…" the Mayor said, closing the parchment and retreating to his office.

"…This is weird," Claire said.

* * *

"Why did you help him, Cliff?" Carter shouted, circling him like an eagle with its prey.

"…I couldn't stand by and watch you destroy the world!" Cliff replied, tied to a chair, covered in bruises.

"Fine. I only have two options. Brainwash you. Or reveal your secret to all. And I think I'll go with the latter one," Carter said.

"No! Please, brainwash me! Please!" Cliff begged.

"Listen! I won't brainwash you but here is your warning… You will obey my every command or else I will reveal your secret without hesitation," Carter said.

"Yes!" Cliff said, tears flooding from his eyes.

Popuri, Jeff and Zack taunted him from the sidelines like gremlins.

Carter untied him and commanded, "Now go brush your teeth!"

Just before Cliff fled the room, free of the torment he had to face every day, Carter said, "They'll be trying to stop us so speed up the wedding to about… two days from now."

Cliff gulped and said, "Yes, Mr. Carter."

* * *

Claire finally felt accepted by people.

She could, at any time, go to the library and talk with her newly found friends.

The next day, she was just leaving the underground lab and was walking down to the first floor, when she heard Mary and Gray talking.

"Hey, Mary… About yesterday," Gray said.

"…Yes? What about yesterday," Mary said, almost ignoring him.

"When I came in and… you hugged me," Gray said after a pause of awkward silence.

"Well, I thought you'd been brainwashed by Carter," Mary said, looking up from her book.

"No, it's just… I think… Never mind… I have to do something," Gray said and then left the library, leaving the door swinging.

"What was that about?" Claire asked, coming down the stairs.

"How should I know?" Mary replied, returning to her book.

Claire left, staring at Gray as he walked into the distance, wondering what he was going to do.

She shrugged and decided to go see Cliff.

Because it was Monday, she headed for the Vineyard.

"Hi, Cliff," Claire said, feeling that the Church and the Library's war was a different part of society from when she talked to Cliff casually.

"Oh, hi, Claire," Cliff said, flustered, turning around for a moment.

"Really… weird…" Duke said.

"Would you come inside, already!" Manna shouted, dragging Duke in.

After that small interference, Claire continued.

"So, 4 days until your wedding," Claire said.

"Actually… it's been moved to tomorrow," Cliff said.

Claire's eyes widened and she was just about to run back to the library, when Cliff touched her arm.

She turned back and saw Cliff staring at the ground, sadder than ever before, which was something.

"Starting from tomorrow, I'll only ever be able to talk to you like a friend. So…" Cliff murmured.

He walked all the way around the fence to where Claire was standing and said, "Close your eyes."

Claire couldn't help but obey, knowing she was blushing but she didn't care.

For a split second she wondered if this was a trap but then Cliff's lips touched Claire's.

Manna gasped from her view at the window, watching the scene unfold, and exactly then, she wondered, _Why is Cliff marrying Ann, anyway?_

And the only reasonable explanation crossed her mind, and even though she wanted to ignore it, she couldn't help but feel it was true.

Claire opened her eyes after their lips broke apart, feeling her cheeks change to a violent shade of red, but all she could think about was kissing Cliff again.

"Wha- what was that?" Claire asked, feeling dizzy but staring into Cliff's blue eyes made her stable.

"I'm sorry but you can't stay. Ann will be coming soon… oh, how I wish you could stay," Cliff said, stabilizing Claire.

She nodded, slightly sad, but walked on, grinning.

"Ow!" Gray snapped when he bumped into Claire.

She stood up, utterly unfazed by the crash and she started to continue.

"Oh, great. What happened with Cliff this time," Gray asked upon seeing Claire's grin.

She was just about to enter the library when she heard Gray's words and a tear formed in her eye.

Gray felt sorry for her for a moment, realizing something terrible must've happened.

"…They changed the date of their wedding. Cliff's going to marry Ann tomorrow," Claire said, almost completely crying.

Gray led Claire to the underground lab, explained everything to the Mayor and left Claire next to one of the cells.

"…Why? Why must the world be so cruel?" Claire asked herself, tears rolling down her face.

"Well, we'll have to speed up the plan," the Mayor said.

* * *

"So, if we're going to get married tomorrow, I'll have to choose my maid of honor quickly," Ann said.

Suddenly, something twitched in her mind and she decided, "I'm going to make Claire my maid of honor."

"What? Why?" Cliff asked.

"Well, I think I've made her suffer. And plus, we're quite good friends," Ann said.

Cliff stared at her, wondering where she had gotten the impression that she and Claire where good friends… unless she was starting to remember?


	6. Preparations

"Carter, have you seen Claire today?" Ann asked as she entered the church.

"No, why?" Carter asked, suspicious.

"I need to ask her something," Ann said, turning to leave the church.

"Ask her what?" Carter asked.

"…I want her to be my maid of honor," Ann said and then left.

"That girl gets in the way of everything!" Carter growled and slowly followed Ann.

"Have you seen Claire?" Carter saw Ann ask Karen who was hanging around outside of the supermarket.

She shook her head no and Ann continued on, soon followed by Carter.

_Wait, why am I asking anyone I come across? Claire always talks to Cliff,_ Ann thought as she made her way to the winery.

"Cliff, have you seen Claire today?" Ann asked her fiancée once she had gone to the cellar.

"Well… I did see her run into Gray but that's all. Why do you want her to be your maid of honor, anyway?" Cliff asked but Ann was already on her way to the blacksmith.

"Saibara? Where's Gray?" Ann asked when she pushed open the door to the blacksmith.

"I don't know. He hardly comes in to work anymore. If you find out why, please tell me. I'm starting to worry," Saibara said but Ann hardly heard his words of despair before she was off for the library.

Carter hid in a field of flowers outside the winery until she passed and then slowly followed her further.

"Hey, Mary. Have you seen Claire today?" Ann asked as she came into the library, noticing Gray in the corner after she'd said hello.

"Yeah-" Mary said, looking at where Gray was sitting, reading, and saw him shaking his head.

"-But she left," Mary finished.

"Oh, okay. Do you know where she went?" Ann asked.

Mary only shrugged, leaving Ann to go only one place more

* * *

"Why does Claire have to ruin everything?" Carter shouted at Cliff.

"I don't know," Cliff murmured, nervously, trying to work.

"Hey, you're the one who likes her! Don't you know anything about her?" Carter shouted.

"What are you doing here, Carter?" Duke asked, appearing suddenly.

"Uh… no reason. Just checking up on Cliff," Carter said.

"I heard shouting! What's going on?" Manna asked from behind Duke.

"It's nothing. Let's just go," Duke said, taking Manna as he left although he looked at Carter suspiciously before so.

"And them… they've got to go, just like Claire," Carter said, looking even more suspiciously than Duke had at the empty staircase.

"…But they're like parents to me!" Cliff protested.

Carter only glared at him in reply and then left in silence.

_

* * *

Knock, knock._

_Knock, knock._

Ann was about to knock again when she decided to wait awhile to see if Claire was even there.

After a few moments of silence, Ann sighed and leaned against the hard wood of Claire's house.

She fell to her knees and began to wonder where Claire had disappeared to.

She looked about the farm where she was, impressed at how much work Claire had already done.

"What are you doing here?" Claire asked from the entrance of the farm, her eyes free of tears.

"I had to ask you something," Ann said, turning as Claire walked around her to the door of her house.

"Yes, I know you're getting married tomorrow," Claire said, beginning to open the door.

"No. I want to know if you'll be my maid of honor?" Ann said.

Claire stopped in her tracks, paralyzed by her words.

_Why would Ann want me to be her maid of honor? _Claire asked herself. _…I… Don't…_

"Uh… Yeah, okay," Claire said and immediately wondered why she had.

"…I'm so happy! I don't want us to be enemies," Ann said.

"Really?" Claire asked sarcastically.

"Well, I know the past few days have been madness but if we lose this friendship-" Ann said but was cut off by Claire's shocked face.

"Friendship? Even before you got brainwashed you hated me!" Claire exclaimed.

"Brainwashed?" Ann said as it was her turn to question.

"Oh, right! You can't remember… Wait!" Claire said, grabbing Ann's arm and preparing to drag her inside her house.

"Ann? What are you doing here? You should be putting the finishing touches on your wedding," Carter said.

Claire and Ann both jumped in surprise at his arrival but calmed down quickly.

Claire sighed, and then said, "…Okay… Go, Ann…"

Ann looked at Claire, wondering what she was going to tell her, and once Claire let go of her hand, Carter grabbed onto her other.

She was dragged away, wondering why she had an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach until Claire was left alone.

Falling to her knees as Ann had done, Claire felt miserable and alone in the world for one of few times.

"Don't feel so bad," someone said at the entrance of the farm.

Claire's heart skipped a beat but once she'd seen who it was, she calmed.

"What are you doing here?" Claire asked Mary who was looking around, nervously.

"No reason… Well, do you know what the plan is yet?" Mary asked.

"No… You mean, for at the wedding?" Claire asked.

Mary nodded and Claire shook her head.

"Well, come to… you know…" Mary said.

Claire looked at her friend quizzically, wondering what she was afraid of.

"…People might be watching so we'll have to take a different route," Mary said.

She took Claire's hand and waited until Claire stood up.

Then the two girls walked to the hot springs.

"Oh, hi, Claire. Hi, Mary," Karen said, who was sitting by the Spring.

"Hello, Karen," Mary said but Claire stayed silent.

"What are you doing here?" Karen asked, looking back and forth between the girls repeatedly.

"Uh… We're here to mine!" Mary said.

"Oh… Where's your hammer, Claire?" Karen asked, seeing no hammer in her hand nor, it seemed, in her rucksack.

"You don't need a hammer to mine," Claire said, like it was obvious.

While Karen stared at them oddly, Claire and Mary entered the Spring Cave.

"What's up with them?" Karen said to herself and then after a moment of silence, she followed them in, only to find the cave full of rocks but nothing else.

* * *

"Where are we?" Claire asked Mary, looking around what looked like a deeper floor of the mine except there was only one rock that was green and slimy.

"What are you doing here?" the green and slimy rock asked.

Then Claire noticed it was not a green and slimy rock after all.

It was a green and slimy… thing (Claire doesn't know who the Kappa is).

"Wrong room," Mary said and they disappeared, appearing back in the mine.

Before Karen's eyes, Mary and Claire appeared out of thin air.

"…" everyone said until Mary and Claire disappeared again, appearing in the lab beneath library this time.

Karen shook her head, thinking she had drunk too much wine even though she hadn't touched a bottle all day.

* * *

"Finally!" Gray said when Claire and Mary appeared in one of the cells.

"Hey! Open up!" Claire shouted but was soon relieved from the enclosed cell.

"Go talk to the Mayor. Everyone else knows the plan," Gray mumbled.

Claire did so, looking back at everyone she had come to know as friends before entering Thomas's office.

"…Good timing," the Mayor said, knowing she was late but letting it pass.

"Yeah, I just… Well, I was talking with Ann and now I'm her maid of honor," Claire said, deciding that it would be better for him to know sooner.

"…You are good at this… I was having trouble wondering how we were going to get in, let alone what we were going to do to stop the wedding," the Mayor said.

Claire beamed, pleased she had already done something right.

"Well, all you have to do is help Ann remember, do everything in your power to turn Cliff against Carter and stall the wedding. Rip Ann's dress if you have to," Thomas said.

"…Okay," Claire said, her sadness obvious in her expression.

The Mayor stared deeply into Claire's eyes until he finally asked, "Claire, how much do you like Cliff?"

Claire stayed quiet, wondering if she was going to burst into tears or not.

Before Claire answered, Thomas said, "I'm sorry."

"Wait, what do you mean, sorry?" Claire asked, her sniffling coming to an end.

The Mayor opened the door to his office and sat back down behind his desk, silent the whole time.

Claire looked at him for a moment and then left, still curious.

* * *

"Something weird is going on, Dad," Ann said to her father as she placed the sheet of paper she'd been working on onto the table.

"…Uh… Yeah," Doug replied, remembering many strange moments with her.

"…I think Cliff asked me to marry him too quickly," Ann said.

"Me too," Doug said.

"Really? Well, then why do you think he did it?" Ann asked.

"…Well, I don't know. There's no reason that he should… I think," Doug said.

Ann sighed, hitting a dead end and Doug went back to polishing the glasses.

* * *

It'd been many weeks since Gray had set foot into the blacksmith's shop.

Saibara looked around the empty room, wondering what had kept his grandson away for so long.

Just then, the door opened, and in walked Gray.

"Gray!" Saibara called out, only a touch of outrage in his voice.

"What?" Gray asked, not looking at his grandfather as he walked to the back of the shop and began to search through the cabinets.

"Where have you been all year?" Saibara asked.

"Library," Gray mumbled and continued to rummage through the shelves in silence, until he pulled out a blue notebook.

He sat down, staring at its cover but never opening it.

"…What's that?" Saibara asked, pointing directly at the notebook.

"What? Oh, it's nothing. I mean, it's blank," Gray said.

After what seemed an eternity of silence, Saibara sighed.

"I have to do something, Gray. You can leave when you want but lock the door when you leave," Saibara said, leaving the keys to the shop on the counter.

Gray continued to study the notebook until he began to wonder.

_Wait, Grandpa never locks himself out of the shop… What's going on?_ Gray thought.

He jumped up and opened the door, looking from left to right outside, but seeing nothing but the empty streets.

* * *

The sky was cloudless and the birds were singing.

Claire had finished all her farm work for the day and everything seemed perfect until she realized what day it was.

The Wedding day.

_Well, I guess I should hurry to the church for Ann,_ Claire thought to herself and went to put her tools inside.

Now with her rucksack empty, Claire could only wonder what could go wrong, whether it was in her advantage or Carter's.


	7. The Wedding

"This is stupid, don't you think?" May said to Stu as they made their way to the church.

"Yeah, why do we have to go?" Stu grumbled.

"It's tradition," Doug muttered but said nothing more to back up his side of the argument.

"Tradition. Yeah, right," Stu whispered.

"Hello, Carter," Doug said when he'd seen the pastor waiting outside for the guests to arrive.

"Come in, come in," Carter said, opening the doors to the church.

Inside, they saw Popuri and the Mayor arguing.

"Hey, why are you here, Popuri?" Doug asked.

"Well, if you must know, Cliff invited me," Popuri said, although she looked slightly nervous.

"And they say he has no friends," Doug muttered.

Then Jeff and Zack entered, waiting for Doug, May and Stu to sit down.

"Now, how long will we have to wait?" May asked, yawning.

* * *

"Hello, Harvest Goddess. What's so important that you had to call us here?" the Kappa asked.

They were beneath the Harvest Goddess Spring and he had already made himself at home.

"Well, there's going to be a wedding today but I believe that it's not ordinary," the Harvest Goddess said.

"Well, it's not like we can do anything about it… anymore," the Witch Princess said.

"I know but I trust this human… She might be the key… With her help we could undo everything," the Harvest Goddess said.

"Wait, are you serious?" the Kappa asked.

With the Harvest Goddess's solemn nod, the Kappa and Witch Princess erupted into cheers.

"But she'll need our help," the Harvest Goddess said.

The Witch Princess moaned and the Kappa just looked deadly serious.

"She might be our only chance in a million years. I trust her," the Kappa said.

The three formed a circle and began chanting until a three lights appeared above their heads.

The green, blue and red lights then formed into one and the whole room plunged into darkness.

They could only hear the laughter of an inhuman beast to keep them from thinking they were dead.

* * *

"Good, you're here," Ann said as Claire entered the Inn.

She grabbed her arm and pulled her to her bedroom, looking nervously around beforehand.

"What?" Claire asked, hoping it was something normal.

"…Are you going to wear that…? Seriously?" Ann asked, pausing for a moment.

"…I thought you'd know how to avoid this," Claire said.

"Anyway, I need you to help tie my hair up," Ann said.

"Oh! But while I'm doing this," Claire said, preparing to tell Ann the truth.

"Oh, now I remember!" Ann said and started to walk back out of her bedroom, Claire running along side her, trying to pin her hair up.

"…Here it is!" Ann said, pulling something out of a cupboard.

"What is it?" Claire asked, finally managing to pin Ann's hair up correctly.

"Look, I've got a dress that you could wear," Ann said, leading Claire back into her bedroom and taking out a chest from under her bed.

"…Why didn't you suggest this before?" Claire asked, looking at the slightly pink dress.

"Because I wore it years ago. I doubt it will fit you," Ann said, taking it out carefully and handing it to Claire.

Claire looked down at her overalls, then back at the dress and decided that it was worth a try.

"Okay, but when Stu and May call us, it means everyone has arrived and the wedding's going to begin," Ann explained.

* * *

"Okay, Doctor, you have to get inside, supposedly 'invited by Cliff' and Mary can get inside because she can play the organ," Thomas said, everyone looking at the complicated map that he was holding out to them.

"Gray and Harris will wait outside until everyone is inside," Thomas continued, pointing to another part of the map that was just as complicated and confusing.

"May can come and tell you three when Ann will be arriving, along with Claire," Thomas said, pointing to the far left corner of the map.

"What about me, Thomas?" Aja asked, eagerly awaiting his commands.

"…You? You will wait here with me, watching it unfold," the Mayor finished.

"What? But I did that last time. I'm starting to think I'm no help at all," Aja said.

In their heads, Mary, Gray, Harris and Doctor muttered, _Finally!_

"Okay. If you want to do something, you could crash the wedding with a camera so I could find out what was going on. Of course, you'd have to reveal yourself to your parents," the Mayor said, expecting Aja to back down.

"…Okay," she replied instead.

While Harris's jaw dropped and Mary dropped her glasses, the Mayor was trying to escape the situation.

"Wait, you could do something else… like…" the Mayor said, searching for something she could do.

"I've been hiding here for so many years from my parents and they think I moved to the city. It's time I told them the truth," Aja said.

"You know you can't tell them _the truth_," the Mayor said.

"I will! I'm out of this… whatever this is! This… Cult!" Aja shouted.

"…You know what that means we're going to have to do…" the Mayor said.

For some reason, Gray was smiling evilly while the others were just pitying her.

An ear-piercing shriek was heard all over Mineral Town.

"What do you think that was?" Duke asked his wife after it was over.

She only shrugged as they walked further toward the church.

"What was that?" Ann asked her friend as they waited for the arrival of May and Stu.

"I don't know…" Claire said slowly, fear growing in her.

"Ha… I know what that sound is," Carter said to himself inside the confessional.

"Where's Cliff?" May asked everyone in particular as she was tired of waiting.

"Yeah… It is taking him awhile… Where is he?" Manna asked.

* * *

"It's unfair. It's not everyday that you get to see a wedding here. I mean, Stu and Doctor went but why couldn't I?" Elli asked her grandmother.

"Maybe it's because you complain so much," Ellen said.

Elli paused from her daily chore of folding all the washed clothes to stare at her grandmother through the corner of her eye, wondering why she had said that.

Dismissing it as a one time thing, Elli returned to her task until she decided to continue the conversation.

"By the way, do you know where Saibara is? He disappeared yesterday," Elli said.

"…Really? No, I don't know where he is… Disappeared…" Ellen murmured, thinking deeply.

"Well, nobody has seen him since yesterday, at least," Elli said and she was left to fold her clothes in silence as Ellen stayed quiet as she thought.

* * *

"Where's Cliff?" Doug asked Doctor as he entered the church, only to get a shrug in reply.

"I haven't seen him all day," Duke said, seriously starting to panic.

"Oh, wait, Cliff? Oh, he's just pacing back and forth outside, probably wondering if he's made the right choice in coming here today," Doctor said.

"Then why did you shrug?" Stu asked.

"Because you were all freaking out and I freaked out too," Doctor explained.

Before anyone went outside to search for Cliff, the doors opened and in he walked.

"Finally," May whispered to herself.

Then May and Stu walked out of the church to tell Claire and Ann that everyone had arrived.

* * *

Beautiful music filled the church, Mary's fingers trembling along the keys.

She wasn't afraid that the Mayor's plan would go wrong but rather that she would make a mistake in the music.

Cliff awaited his bride, but by the look on his face, it was clear he was hoping for something that would postpone the wedding.

Like a funeral, not that it crossed his mind.

Everyone in their seats, waiting patiently and enjoying the music, until the doors opened, letting in a ghostly light.

Claire walked in time with the music, her mind racing in the adrenaline that was, the wedding.

"I thought Ann was the one getting married," May whispered staring at the magnificent dress Claire wore.

Popuri giggled, for she found May's words amusing.

Of course, Claire did look stunning but it was funny all the same.

Wondering how she had even managed to fit in the dress, Claire walked over to her post and looked over at Doctor, who was Cliff's best man.

Then Ann walked in and everything about her seemed perfect.

May then understood why Popuri had found her so funny.

Then, something twitched, moved and finally started working again.

Ann's brain.

She looked around the church, wondering what she was doing there, and for that matter, what she was doing in a wedding dress.

But when she realized everyone was staring at her, she continued to walk down the aisle.

Though her mind was racing, she tried to understand her situation, but still couldn't.

Standing there, staring into Carter's eyes, she wondered what had brought her here.

Outside, Gray and Harris were planning on a way to get in.

* * *

Halfway through the ceremony, Gray and Harris nowhere to be seen, Carter realized that if he continued at this speed then he would never finish in time.

For his plan to work, he had to end the wedding at a certain moment and it was fast approaching.

Before he could do anything, though, Claire cried out, even though it was bad timing, "Objection!"

"…What?" May said, and was the only one to say anything for awhile.

Thinking of something to say, Claire looked desperately around the room, until she grabbed Ann's shoulders, shook her and said, repeatedly, "You've got to wake up, Ann!"

Carter mouthed the words, _get her out_, so Jeff and Popuri stood up to throw her out of the church.

While Ann watched her friend being helplessly thrown out the door, she could only think of one thing.

Claire stood up, brushing off clouds of dirt that had formed once she'd landed and then turned to glare at Jeff and Popuri.

Gray and Harris surprisingly joined her, from where she still doesn't know, and they stood there, menacingly.

* * *

Carter had decided to skip a whole bunch of things and go straight to, "Cliff, do you take Ann to be-"

Before he could say one word more, the doors to the church burst open once more, and Gray, Harris and Claire stood before the group gathered in the church.

"This is the most exciting wedding I've ever been to," Doug said.

But before anyone did anything, Ann shouted, "Stop!"

"What is going on here?" Ann said, loudly.

"I'd like to know that too," Doug said, only to be silenced by Ann.

"…Ann, you've been brainwashed," Claire said, deciding to leave out the part of who did it.

"Yeah, I know that but what is going on _here_?" Ann asked.

"Wait, what? You know?" Cliff asked.

"I'm going to tell everyone the whole truth," Claire said, sick of all the lies.

While the Mayor tried to stop her, Claire started to explain, only to be overtaken by others asking questions.

"Hey! Don't make me shout again!" Ann shouted, silencing everyone.

Once the room was completely silent, Ann continued, "Now tell me, what is going on here, Carter?"

"…You give me no choice," Carter said and for once, the Mayor thought he was going to tell the truth.

But instead, he ran to the doors, shut them and punched the wall next to it.

It revealed to be a compartment and he pressed a big, shiny, red button.

_That can't be good,_ Claire thought.

The windows were blacked out and barred, all doors but the confessional's locked.

Carter turned around, his eyes gleaming evilly as he said, "Don't worry. You won't remember any of this when it's over…"


	8. The Church Is Gone

"Cliff, Popuri, Jeff, Zack, Doctor, get everyone into the confessional," Carter said.

"…I guess this is a good time as any to tell you… I'm not brainwashed and I'm working for the Mayor," Doctor said.

While Carter slapped himself in the face, Cliff, Popuri, Jeff and Zack pushed everyone (including Doctor) into the confessional.

The Mayor couldn't believe that he was being taken to the lair of the church, knowing that he was going to be brainwashed anyway.

Pure white light surrounded Claire and she found herself with the same uneasy feeling as the first time that she could remember being taken to the dungeon.

Duke finally understood what was strange about Cliff, but knew he was in unknown territory.

Finally, the white light faded around them and they found themselves being pushed into a grimy dungeon.

Once the Mayor, Gray, Ann, Doctor, Mary, Harris, Doug, Manna, Duke, May, Stu and Claire were tied up, Carter walked over to a cupboard.

"…This is so… this place is so…" Popuri said, over and over again, never finishing her sentence.

"Well, this isn't the greatest time to ask, but what was that shrieking sound?" Manna asked, a few behind her nodding.

"You don't want to know," the Mayor said, deadly seriously.

"Wake up, Claire," Cliff said, beside her.

"What?" she asked, wondering what had made her fall asleep at a time like this.

"I know I can't get you out of here but… the least I can do is…" Cliff whispered, but then walked away.

_What was that about? _Claire wondered, staring at Cliff who was standing in the corner now.

She whipped her head around and saw Carter was already making more victims of his purple brainwashing liquid.

In the next 5 minutes, Doug, Harris and Stu were all asleep, but Claire knew that when they awoke, they wouldn't remember a thing.

Suddenly, Claire remembered something from awhile ago.

May had been coming to the lab under the library most of the time, but all of a sudden, that had stopped.

Curious, Claire kept on thinking, not noticing the frightened look on the Mayor's face.

He'd never been scared, or not in her presence, but now he was terrified.

Was it of losing his memories, being held captive by his enemy, or losing his entire operation.

After another moment of wondering, Claire knew it was hopeless, they were reaching Mary and soon, the rest would be brainwashed, including herself.

_There's no hope… We can't do anything… Carter has won, _Claire thought, but she then looked up and saw Cliff thinking.

Hoping against hope that **anything **would happen, Claire shut her eyes and began to dream.

* * *

Back at the lab under the library, a body lay on the ground.

Covered in blood, just like the floor, its features were bloody.

You could no longer tell whose body it was.

Then, one of its fingers moved.

Slowly but eventually its entire left hand was moving.

After a few minutes, the body was dragging itself toward a table.

It reached up, grabbed the edge and pulled itself up.

Limping, it was going to just leave, but then it noticed the Mayor's office.

It limped there instead, deciding to rifle through his things.

But on the table was a miniature sized Mineral Town.

And there, near the end, was the church.

Staring at it, the bloody body got the urge to crush it with its hand but it knew that would hurt.

It picked up a hammer over in the corner of the room and smashed the church repeatedly.

"Serves them right," it muttered and limped out of the room, out of the lab, out of Mineral Town itself.

It only looked back once, thinking of its parents, Manna and Duke.

But she then walked on, unaware of the rapidly changing events that were about to occur.

Aja has left Mineral Town.

_

* * *

Hope._

_What is hope?_

_And when there is none, what do you do?_

_And why am I asking these questions to myself?_

Claire opened her eyes, noticing Ann beside her, dreading the horrible events to come.

She was still in her wedding dress, but it just made the whole situation more confusing.

"At least you get to look good when this happens," Claire said, exhausted.

"I should only have to wear a wedding dress once in my life," Ann said, noticing Gray, beside her, about to be brainwashed.

"Okay. Don't get married," Claire said, jokingly and Ann silently laughed.

Suddenly, breaking the awkward silence, a huge explosion was heard, shattering half of the wall.

Surprisingly, the lights stayed intact, but everyone was confused.

Only Ann, Gray, Cliff, Carter, Popuri, Jeff, Zack and Claire were awake now.

"What was that?" Claire shouted, the explosion's deafening sound lingering longer than the cloud of smoke.

Then another explosion was heard, by the other side of the church, deadlier than the last.

It sent a chunk of the confessional door flying toward them, although it didn't hit them.

"What the heck is going on?" Carter asked, murmuring to himself but Gray could hear him.

"…That's it!" Cliff shouted, coming out of the corner and into the light.

"What?" Ann asked, as he untied Claire's hands and feet.

He then moved onto Ann, continuing down the row of brainwashed.

"What the heck are you doing, Cliff?" Carter shouted.

"You're all going to take one of the brainwashed and we're all going to get out of here, alive," Cliff shouted, continuing to untie feet and hands.

Carter looked back and forth between the purple liquid and the broken wall.

He then threw the jar of purple liquid on the ground and picked up Duke.

Everyone began to pick up the unconscious until the room was empty.

Racing through the burning building, avoiding collapsing beams and leaping flames, was especially hard for Ann in her wedding dress.

Along with carrying Mary and Stu, it was next to impossible.

But she finally got out when Gray opened the doors to the church, which, in the explosion, had unlocked.

Blackened by the experience, Ann felt terrible because she'd ruined the dress she was going to get married in.

"And do you know how much this cost?" she said to herself, transforming her thoughts into words mid sentence.

They were soon followed by Zack, Popuri and Jeff, all carrying more unconscious people.

Back inside, Claire was just making her way out when Carter almost tripped.

When he looked back for what he had tripped over, seeing nothing, he looked up, and just in time.

He leapt out of the way but his legs got stuck under a collapsed beam.

Duke was safe, but would've burned if Cliff hadn't come along.

He did and he placed Manna on the ground outside, coming back in for Duke.

"Wait, Cliff! You can't just leave me like this!" Carter begged.

"Yes, I can. You're the only other soul that knows my secret and it's going to stay that way," Cliff said, slowly closing the door to the church.

Everyone was pleased that they had saved everyone, and Popuri was coming out of her brainwashed state.

Popuri took one look at what was happening and fled the scene.

The Mayor was beginning to wake up, also.

"Thomas? Are you alright?" Gray asked.

"…Yes. What happened?" the Mayor asked.

"But wait… Are you brainwashed?" Gray asked.

"…Not to my knowledge. If you want to know if I remember about Carter, the church, the library and all that stuff, then yes, I do," the Mayor said.

While everyone celebrated, Claire slowly walked back into the church, feeling something was unfinished.

"Claire! Help me!" Carter begged.

Claire was shocked.

Had Cliff just left him there?

"Wh- Why?" Claire asked, suddenly afraid.

"Why? I'm a human being!" Carter said.

"…I'm not so sure about that," Claire said.

"Please, don't leave me here!" Carter said, seeing Claire's hand touch the doorknob.

Claire turned around, knowing she didn't have much time before the church collapsed.

"Listen, I have to tell you this. Answer me; what would you rather? To live in a world where your every move is controlled by someone else?" Carter said.

"Well, that sounds horrible!" Claire said.

"Wait… or to not live at all, knowing that there is no life on Earth, the planet completely bare," Carter said, slowly struggling out of the beam's way.

"…What?" Claire asked, waiting for Carter to confirm his knowledge.

"Yes, that is what the Mayor wants. To kill everything," Carter said.

Before Claire could move, Cliff opened the door, saw them both and grabbed Claire.

He dragged her out, just before the church collapsed completely.

There had been no time to save Carter anyway.

* * *

"Now are you happy you didn't go to the wedding?" Ellen asked, who was looking out the window.

"Y- Y- Yes…" Elli replied, trembling, looking out the window as well.

"…Is Stu alright?" Ellen asked.

Elli's eyes widened when she heard her grandmother ask this and she ran from the house to the church, so fast she was almost invisible.

Somehow, it seemed that Elli had been there all along, tightly hugging Stu who was unconscious.

"…Uh, Cliff? Why didn't you help Carter?" Claire asked, having a feeling that she knew what his reply would be.

"…He's evil," he said, but Claire was surprised.

_I've never guessed right before so I guess it makes sense now, _Claire thought to herself.

"So, Thomas… What next?" Claire asked.

Suddenly, the chatter in the air silenced, the wind stopped blowing, the fire stopped crackling and the smoke stopped moving.

"You've done well, Claire," the Mayor said in an eerie voice.

"Yes?" Claire said, frightened.

"Now that Carter's been dealt with, I can move on to phase three. And I'll need your help," the Mayor said, although he sounded much more like Carter had, just when he'd locked them in.

"…What if I say no?" Claire asked.

"You won't," the Mayor said.

Elli looked up, not understanding any of the situation but more confused by the still smoke.

"Oh, and Cliff? You'll be first," the Mayor said.

He then began dragging him to the library.

"You'll be my assistant, Claire," the Mayor said, getting further and further away.

Claire could only fear for Cliff, as she had no idea what the Mayor was going to do to him.

"Uh…" Elli said, but was too frightened to say a word.

Ann looked at Claire and realized how much torment she had gone through in the past few weeks.

"…I've got to go," Gray said, picking up Mary and walking to the library.

"Wait, Gray! What happened to Saibara?" Elli asked, thinking he of all people would know.

"…I don't know… I just hope he didn't feel any pain," Gray murmured and continued on his way.

* * *

Down in the lab under the library, Gray was waking up Mary.

He knew that her parent's would be frightened if she had been in the church, it had burned to the ground, and they hadn't seen her soon, so he started to pour water on her face.

He ignored the Mayor, not wanting to know what torture he was going to put Cliff through.

But he then noticed something out of place.

There was a trail of blood leading to the exit and entrance of the library but Aja's body was nowhere to be seen.

Had she survived?

No, that's impossible, Gray thought, but something told him otherwise.

The voice of the Harvest Goddess did.

"You must believe in miracles… it's all we have now," the Harvest Goddess told him, but she was just in the back of his mind.

Forgetting Mineral Town's last hope, Gray went back to waking up Mary.

The Mayor then walked out of his office, without Cliff.

Gray also noticed that his office was empty.

He didn't ask him but he was thinking it every second after that.

Where was Cliff?


	9. Puppy

A shadow hangs over Mineral Town.

When the Mayor walks through the streets, not a single person would be about.

They all hide inside their houses, hoping that the Mayor will not stop by.

Everyone bows down in fear of the Mayor.

And whenever the Mayor takes a stroll through Mineral Town, so he can be assured that its inhabitants are under his control, Claire follows.

She is right behind him, ready at his beck and call.

She tried not to be sucked into the Mayor's madness, but no matter how hard she tried, her farm was dying.

Her crops would shrivel up and die, her animals fled the moment the Mayor took over.

She had no choice but to be the Mayor's assistant.

Nobody dares step out of their homes anymore, not for food or anything.

Mary is stuck inside the library, because she feels that the books are her home.

The Mayor no longer goes to the laboratory underneath the library, so she is safe, it seems.

Now, only one person continues their schedule as if nothing happened.

Gray goes on with his life, even though Saibara has left and Mary no longer helps in the library.

She only hides behind her desk, hoping that the Mayor will never walk through the door.

Sometimes, Ann wants to return to her normal schedule like Gray has, but Doug won't let her.

She only cooks for Gray, so that his schedule is always the same.

And after Gray's day is over, he takes out a blue notebook and writes one word.

But since he never interferes with the Mayor's plan, the Mayor lets him go on.

And since nobody else is brave enough to follow in Gray's footsteps, the Mayor's power is forever.

So when the Mayor is no longer walking about Mineral Town, everyone prays for the Harvest Goddess.

* * *

It seemed like any other day when the Mayor had complete control of Mineral Town.

But as he passed Gray in the streets, today something different happened.

Claire looked up and gasped as she saw the glint of metal in Gray's hand.

The Mayor had no idea what was about to happen, but when he heard Claire gasp, he turned to Gray.

Gray had pulled out a knife, and he immediately leapt towards the Mayor and aimed for his heart.

Blood spilled out of the Mayor's wound and all over Gray's hand.

The Mayor glared at him, his face darkened and a red light enveloped Gray.

Gray screamed in pain, but after that the Mayor walked off.

Claire wanted to help him but she looked at the Mayor.

She had an idea of what he was capable of, but now she had seen it first hand.

So she just left Gray lying in the street, wondering if he was going to die.

* * *

Gray opened his eyes and realized he was in the hospital.

Doctor and Elli stood before him, worried.

"What happened to you, Gray?" Elli asked.

"I was trying to… well, I guess it doesn't matter anymore…" Gray mumbled.

"Can I ask you, Gray, what is that on your hand?" Doctor asked.

Gray looked at his hand, expecting to see the Mayor's blood on it.

His hand did indeed have the Mayor's blood on it, but it was purple.

Everyone was silent.

"…I stabbed the Mayor… and he has purple blood…" Gray said.

"What? Are you saying the Mayor isn't human?" Elli asked.

"…Never mind that. I want your help. Will you rebel against the Mayor with me?" Gray asked.

Doctor and Elli looked at the blood and then Doctor said, "Do you really think we can beat him?"

"No. I mean, we hide but we plan a way to beat him. You see, the only reason that people thought I was continuing my daily schedule was because of the places I went to," Gray began.

He started to get up and out of bed, realizing that the Mayor probably didn't plan on killing him, because he didn't feel hurt at all.

Gray guessed that the only reason the Mayor had attacked was to keep the other people of Mineral Town at bay.

"Anyway, the reason I went to the blacksmith's was to make this knife. Wherever it is. And I went to the library to study… to study something… That doesn't matter," Gray said.

"So, what are we supposed to do?" Elli asked.

"Just do what you would do if the Mayor wasn't here. But we should meet every day and discuss a plan," Gray explained.

"…This reminds me of the Mayor's plan against Carter. Are you sure you're not evil?" Doctor asked.

Gray laughed sarcastically and said, "Anyway, I only want you to remember and remind people that we do have hope. I know you may not believe it, but we do."

Doctor and Elli looked at each other, thinking the same thing.

_Hope? Who could save us now?_

* * *

Out in the wilderness, where the trees grew as tall as skyscrapers, Saibara was trudging through the tall grass.

He carried with him a hammer that was older than time itself.

He hammered certain sections of the ground, searching for where it was hollow.

The sun had set hours ago, so he had a flashlight on his belt.

But he switched it off when he saw a mysterious glow in the clearing up ahead.

He ran to it, surprisingly quickly for his old age.

He stared at the sphere of light before him, wondering if this was what he was after.

He heard voices coming from within the sphere.

"I can't believe I'm going to spend all of eternity in the same cell as you," a voice said.

"This is going to be just as hard for me, you know. You're such a pain," another voice said.

And then another voice sighed and muttered, "I should never have come."

Saibara stared at the floating sphere, deciding that even if this wasn't it, it was just as good.

He picked it up, hearing screams from within the sphere, and put it into his rucksack.

And with that, Saibara continued hammering the ground, searching.

* * *

It's the first of winter today.

The very first snowflake in Mineral Town that year fell onto Claire's open palm.

It saddened her more that this was her first winter in the village, and she couldn't enjoy it with the other villagers.

They all whimpered from their windows as she passed them by, for she followed the Mayor.

At the time, the streets were bare, but by tomorrow, a layer of snow would cover the ground.

She lowered her head to the ground, not wishing to make eye contact with anyone who dared to look out of their window.

_Knock, knock._

The Mayor had stopped at the Inn and was knocking on it.

Claire feared for the safety of the villagers inside, wondering why he had stopped here.

The door creaked open and Doug's frightened eyes appeared.

He didn't dare speak before the Mayor, so the silence dragged on for awhile.

"Hi!" Ann said, cheerfully, from within the Inn.

Quietly, Doug shushed Ann and turned back to the Mayor.

"What… is it?" Doug asked.

Before anybody said anything, Ann appeared at the door.

"Go back," Doug whispered to her, but she shook her head in defiance.

She held up something small and brown to the Mayor.

"…What should I do with him?" Ann asked.

"Why are you asking me?" the Mayor asked.

"…Oh, there you are, Claire! Will you take him?" Ann asked, holding up a weak looking puppy to Claire's face.

"Why can't you take him?" Claire said, almost as if she didn't want the puppy.

"Well, I think he's sick but I can't take him to Doctor because my father won't let me," Ann said, emphasizing rage on the word 'father.'

Claire was silent but then the puppy opened his eyes and yawned.

It was the most adorable sight Claire had ever seen, so she took the puppy without further question.

The Mayor shrugged at this sight, realizing there were still some things he had no control over.

Ann said, "Take him to Doctor as soon as you can," before returning to the kitchen.

"I'm so sorry about Ann, she doesn't know when she should stop talking, it isn't that she doesn't understand your leadership… or…" Doug struggled to find the word.

The Mayor looked at Claire who was snuggling the little puppy so he decided to answer himself.

"Well, I don't see the problem. In fact, she might even be useful to me later on… You know what? I don't think I need your help after all," the Mayor said.

Ann then came running back to the door.

"I don't want to waste anymore of your time, but I just wanted to say something to Claire. Claire, what are you going to name the puppy? Because I think you should… you should… name him Cliff," Ann said.

Claire and Ann became silent as they remembered him.

"Who's Cliff?" Doug asked.

Ann grumbled and shut the Inn door herself.

But Claire and the Mayor could still hear Ann's loud voice.

"…Well… I'm going to go to the hospital… If that's alright," Claire said.

The Mayor knew he had to grant Claire some of her wishes, because without her, he wouldn't be where he was today.

So he nodded and Claire ran passed him without a word more.

* * *

Basil and Anna (those are Mary's parents) looked down at what was left of the church.

Anna sighed and began to sweep away the rubble, while Basil started to dig through the piles of wood and glass and everything else, carefully.

Anna had forgotten why Basil had brought his shovel, which was lying next to the animal graves.

She said nothing, as she continued to sweep.

Finally, Basil made it to the bottom of the heap.

He murmured, "Here he is," from the middle of the hole he'd dug with his hands.

Anna turned around until she saw Basil carrying the dead body of Carter.

He was covered in bits of wood and glass that had crushed him at the moment of his death and thinking of how much pain he must've been in, they both felt sad.

Neither of them even minded the smell of his week old body, just looking at him made them sad.

Even though they knew he wasn't a hero, he'd done so many evil things, they still felt sad.

Basil laid Carter's body onto the ground and started to dig Carter's grave with the shovel he'd brought.

Anna nodded as she realized what the shovel was for.

Then, at the sound of footsteps, Anna looked up.

She saw Claire, walking to the hospital, and even though she tried to hide it, she had a smile spreading across her face.

* * *

Claire smiled as she awoke to find herself back in her own farmhouse.

She hadn't been in this room for a long time, but now that she had a puppy to look after, she had returned.

And the puppy hadn't run away from the farm overnight, like the other animals had.

In fact, Cliff was seemed to be happier, stronger and healthier than yesterday when she'd first seen him.

The puppy ran to Claire as soon as he noticed she was awake.

After the brief interlude of Cliff licking Claire's face, Claire finally managed to escape.

She was surprised how fast the puppy had come to accept her.

It'd taken weeks for her other animals to be this affectionate.

She started to wonder if Ann had chosen the name Cliff for another reason.

But then Cliff suddenly started barking.

"What is it, Cliff?" Claire asked the puppy.

Then there was a knock at the door and Cliff jumped out of Claire's arms and to the door.

He started scratching the door until Claire finally opened it.


	10. Searching

Claire opened her eyes, but came to darkness.

Where am I? she thought.

She quickly figured out that she was tied to a chair, most likely, and that she was blindfolded.

Then she remembered what had happened only a moment before.

She had opened the door to see two black-clad ninja-like people before her.

Cliff had barked crazily…

But that was all she could remember.

"Well… What do we do now?" somebody said.

"Who's there?" Claire asked.

"Huh? Oh, you're awake," somebody else said.

Claire didn't recognize their voices, but she did recognize something else.

There was the faint sound of a dog barking crazily in the background.

"Where's Cliff?" she asked, meaning the puppy.

"What?" three voices uttered at the same moment.

"My dog. He's called Cliff," Claire said.

"…Your dog is safe," one of the voices said.

Claire could hardly tell the voices apart, and she was feeling drowsy.

Then she closed her eyes and drifted off.

* * *

Mary looked up from her desk when she heard a knock on the library door.

Must be Gray, she thought, so she went to open it.

Instead, the Mayor stood before her, and she couldn't contain a gasp.

He barreled past her, looking around the room, and then headed upstairs.

Following from a distance, Mary saw the Mayor even enter the lab, but only for a few minutes.

He left with nothing, saying only, "Sorry to take up your time," on the way out.

Mary stared at him, wondering what he had been looking for.

She gave up wondering after a moment and returned to her desk.

* * *

Elli looked up when there was a knock on the hospital door.

She was curious who would come knocking, as everybody else who came by would just open the door without a warning.

And normally they would have a good reason, someone might be wounded or injured.

So Elli got up out of her seat and practically sprinted to the door.

Opening it, she came face to face with the Mayor. [Well, actually, she had to look down a bit because the Mayor is kind of short.]

"…What brings you here?" Elli asked, trying to hide her fear.

"May I come in… Oh, who cares, just let me in," the Mayor said.

He shoved Elli out of the way and walked in.

Elli almost toppled over and fell to the ground, but Doctor was at her side.

She was surprised, because she thought that Doctor was still working at his desk.

Seeing him appear so suddenly wasn't only surprising but also…

"Hey, stop that!" Doctor shouted, moving towards the Mayor once he'd stabilized Elli.

Elli noticed that the Mayor was almost at the point of throwing medicine bottles randomly onto the ground.

However, in his rage, the Mayor did stop and headed for the next room.

Doctor became worried for the welfare of his office, so he ran straight after him.

But the Mayor was quick, and before Doctor had even entered his own office, the Mayor was before him, leaving.

Just before he did leave the building, he noticed the stairs leading into darkness.

He turned and headed for them.

"You can't go upstairs!" Doctor shouted, with no reason to back him up.

The Mayor just snorted in amusement, one would think, and continued up the stairs.

Doctor and Elli followed him from a bit behind.

The Mayor tried opening the first door, but it seemed to be locked.

He decided to come back to that one and moved onto the second door.

He practically threw it off its hinges, but seeing the empty room, the Mayor kicked nearest object in rage.

He retreated out of Elli's room, and headed for the other one.

He tried to open it once more, but then focused his mind on it.

A red light enveloped the door, but when the Mayor saw it had no effect, it turned purple, then black.

It still had no effect on the door, and enraged, he roared.

Doctor and Elli covered their ears as the Mayor screamed and kicked the door.

Finally, he just sighed and gave up.

"We haven't been able to open that door for years," Doctor said.

"…Well… All I know is that room is very strange. Not even my magic works on it," the Mayor said.

He looked at the doctor and nurse before him.

He shook his head.

There was no way that these two would know magic. And even if they did, none that could beat mine, the Mayor thought.

And so he left them, and as soon as Doctor and Elli saw he was far enough away, they chanted words in a strange language.

The door clicked open after that.

They opened the door and looked into the darkness.

"What was that?" somebody inside the room asked.

* * *

Doug and Ann were in the middle of dinner.

The silently chomped through their meals until all the plates were bare.

The silence after the meal was starting to drag on a bit, but then Ann suddenly stood up and left the Inn.

Doug shrugged to himself, thinking she had something to do.

Over the past week of the Mayor's reign, he had come to understand that leaving the house did not mean certain death.

And so he allowed his daughter to leave.

What he didn't know was that by letting Ann leave, he had started a whole new chain of events.

* * *

Elli looked up when there was a knock at the hospital door.

She feared that the Mayor had returned, but sighed with relief when she saw it was only Ann.

"What are you doing here, Ann?" Elli asked.

"…To be honest, my father's driving me crazy. That's the only reason, I think," Ann said.

"Okay. Well, make yourself at home…" Elli said.

"Seriously, why are you here?" Elli asked.

"Well, I had nowhere else to come. I have no idea where Claire is and everyone else is too scared to live their live normally," Ann said.

Suddenly, Cliff started barking.

"Huh? Do you have a dog?" Ann asked.

"…No?" Elli asked, unable to explain the barking in the background.

And then the puppy came sprinting out of the Doctor's office, Doctor racing after him.

"…What's Cliff doing here? Where's Claire? Is she here?" Ann asked as Cliff jumped into her arms.

Elli was silent, but eventually said, "…No. Claire isn't here."

"Then why is her dog here…" Ann went deadly quiet.

Carrying Cliff, she suddenly vanished from the hospital and was running to Claire's farm.

Doctor and Elli could do nothing but stand there and watch.

* * *

_Knock, knock._

_Knock, knock._

_Knock, knock!_

Ann almost wanted to kick the door down, but decided that Claire probably wasn't home.

But she couldn't wait any longer, there was no time left.

She started towards the town when she realized there was nowhere she could go.

And she couldn't go back to the Inn because her father was there.

Ann then looked upon a lonely looking building, and she began to plan.

* * *

There was a knock on the Inn door.

The Mayor had been going around Mineral Town all of yesterday, searching.

But now after one day had passed, he had given up.

In a way.

Doug opened the door, grinning, only to see the Mayor.

Doug's face fell.

"Sorry. I was expecting Ann. Well, I should've guessed. Ann never knocks," Doug said.

The Mayor did not barge in, only asking, "Where is Ann?"

"She disappeared yesterday. She just got up and left. And I didn't try to stop her. What's wrong with me?" Doug asked himself, tears forming in his eyes.

"Now that can't just be a coincidence," the Mayor murmured.

"What?" Doug asked, wiping his eyes free of water.

"Claire has disappeared, too. Claire and Ann… Well, I'm sorry to have taken up your time," the Mayor said.

As soon as Doug shut the door, he burst into tears.

How could he lose both Ann and her mother?

* * *

Claire awoke to silence.

After a moment of getting used to being awake, she realized she was no longer blindfolded and the ropes around her hands were no longer there.

She looked around the room, but it was not familiar to her.

Before she attempted to escape, she saw a wondrous meal in front of her.

She pounced on the meal, not caring if it was drugged, because she was starving.

She remembered the way that Cliff, the puppy, ate.

He ate with manners, unlike Claire and Cliff, the person.

Claire sadly sighed as she remembered Cliff.

She had never figured out what had happened to him.

Had he fled Mineral Town or was he a prisoner.

Was he somewhere far away, without his memory or was he… dead?

She noticed she was weeping onto her food, so she quickly ate the rest of her meal and sat down.

She studied the room, seeing only one door, and nothing else.

The room looked like a bedroom and a study, rolled into one.

She walked over to the door, tried to open it but once she realized it was locked, she knocked.

Someone knocked back, and said, "Hello."

"Huh? What? Who's there?" Claire asked, stunned that knocking had worked.

"…I don't have much time. The Mayor has drained me of all my power, so I can't appear before you. But I must tell you something… Okay, maybe not that. Just remember, you're safe. You're with friends. And Cliff's safe," the voice said.

Claire was shocked.

"What do you mean by that?" Claire asked but she got no response.

She repeatedly knocked on the door but to no avail.

She was scared by the voice's strange words.

Had it meant the puppy or… Cliff?

She decided that since there was nothing more she could do, she should study the room more closely.

There were books in the bookcase, but they were blank on the inside.

There was a bed, a desk, a table, sofas, the chair she'd been tied to and papers were scattered on the floor.

They said things like, '5:00, Library' and, 'Apple Pie-Order In' scribbled on them.

She saw a blank piece of paper on the desk and headed to it.

Beside the paper was a pencil, the end almost completely chewed through, although it didn't look like human teeth marks.

She picked it up and started writing a letter.

_Dear kidnappers..._


	11. Facing the Future

Gray entered the blacksmith workshop, preparing another day of working on his 'project'.

He had started storing things in a box in his grandfather's room, since he no longer lived there.

He walked over to the door and knocked, automatically.

While wondering why he'd knocked, Gray opened the door.

He looked around the room, searching for the box.

He saw a pile of boxes over in the corner of the room, so he walked over and took the box at the top of the pile off.

Then he went pale, as though he'd seen a ghost.

"Please don't tell my dad I'm here," Ann said, hiding behind the boxes.

* * *

After working on his project for the day, and forgetting that Ann was hiding in Saibara's room, Gray left the blacksmith workshop.

He headed for the library, where he picked out a certain book, which he'd been reading all week.

Mary didn't look frightened anymore, and she even started a conversation with Gray at one point.

After that, Gray headed for the hospital, where Doctor and Elli were staring at the 'locked' door.

"What are you two doing?" Gray asked.

"…Ann got the dog," Doctor said.

"So?" Gray asked, not thinking it to be connected to where Ann was.

"I think she's suspicious," Elli said.

"Well, she has every right to be suspicious. After all," Gray took a moment before finishing his sentence, to mutter words in a strange language.

The door unlocked and they all entered.

"It's so dark in here," Gray said, searching for the light switch.

"…Who turned it off anyway?" Doctor asked.

They all went silent, until the light finally switched on.

The chair that usually occupied Claire was empty.

"Uh oh…" they all said.

All three of them started to panic, but as soon as they looked to the right, they saw Claire asleep on the floor.

They dragged her back to the chair and tied her hands and feet.

They blindfolded her again and were about to discuss what they thought had happened to her, when Elli noticed a letter on the desk.

"_Dear kidnappers, I assume you will not tell me who you are or where I am, but will you please tell me why you kidnapped me? And were you the ones who fed me? Just wondering. From Claire. P.S I know this letter sounds kind of weird_," Elli read.

"…She's right, that is a weird letter. Anyway, what do you think? Should we tell her why?" Gray asked the other two.

"…I trust her. I mean, did you see everything she did before this whole thing happened?" Doctor said.

"I know I wasn't part of the whole Mayor thing, but I trust her too," Elli said.

"Then it's settled. When Claire wakes up, we tell her… Maybe we should… No. We'll just tell her," Gray said.

* * *

Doug looked out the window of the Inn, longing that Ann would return.

He hated himself, because he knew that he had had the opportunity to stop Ann, but he hadn't.

Then he saw the Mayor emerging from the blacksmith workshop, dragging somebody out.

With a closer look he saw that Ann was struggling in the Mayor's grip.

He leapt for the door, almost just kicking it down, and within five seconds flat, he was by Ann's side.

He grabbed Ann easily out of the Mayor's hands, and said, "What are you doing?"

"She's part of my plan. Now get out of my way," the Mayor said, simply.

"Are you crazy! For the last two days I've been worrying whether she's dead or alive! I'm not letting her go!" Doug shouted.

Ann was silent, not sure what to say, or if she should say anything.

"Well, then… I'll have to deal with you," the Mayor said, and a red light started to envelop Doug.

Nearby, Gray, Doctor and Elli watched the scene unfold.

None of them stepped forward, because from Gray's information, Doug was in no real danger.

But then the light around Doug turned purple, and then black, and Doug yelled out in pain.

But nobody did anything, because they knew that they would end up in the same situation if they stepped forward.

Then Ann snuck up behind the Mayor and hit him hard over the head with a hammer she'd gotten from the blacksmith's workshop.

He fell to the ground, but got back up after a second.

He glared at Ann, and she feared that she would be screaming in pain as her father was.

But before a light enveloped her, Gray ran in front of her and took out the project he'd been working on, an incomplete sword.

"Stand back, or else," Gray shouted, brandishing his weapon.

For a second, Ann felt safe, but then the Mayor stepped forward.

Gray struck the Mayor with a violent blow with the golden sword he held.

An inhuman scream leapt from the Mayor's lips, and purple blood flowed out of his wound and covered the ground.

Ann noticed that in this time, Doctor and Elli had rushed to her side, and now they all watched the scene before them.

The Mayor stood up and boomed, whilst running to his house, "You'll regret this!"

They were all silent, but they knew they had little time before the Mayor was after them.

But Doug was still crying out in pain, and so Doctor and Elli carried him to the hospital.

Ann and Gray followed, but except for Doug's screams, they were silent.

Nobody wanted to discuss what was ahead.

* * *

Ann was by her father's side, as he slept, at times, he yelped in pain.

Tears fell from Ann's eyes, uncontrollably, but she didn't make a sound.

She held her father's hand, and every time Doug screamed in pain, he squeezed her daughter's hand so tight that she thought her fingers might break, but she didn't let go.

Doctor watched her, not wanting to tell her the news he had after examining Doug.

He sighed, and turned around to see Gray and Elli who were looking at him.

"Hurry, we must discuss what we will do next," Elli said and Doctor ran over to his desk and placed the folder down.

"So. Well. Claire hasn't awoken yet, so we haven't been able to tell her why we… kidnapped her. So. I think we should wake her up," Gray said.

"…Why?" Doctor asked.

"Why do you think? We don't have much time until the Mayor attacks us? She might be are only hope?" Gray asked.

"Why do you think that Claire could help us? For all we know, she could be evil," Elli said, her arms crossed as though she were challenging him in some way.

"I just know," Gray said, but for a second, Elli noticed that he looked down at his pocket.

She also noticed that it bulged slightly, as though he kept something the size of a notebook there.

"Anyway, I have to go. We'll start on waking Claire up when I get back," Gray said, heading out of the hospital and towards the blacksmith workshop.

He had figured out why Ann had hidden there, and was surprised.

She had talent, enough to become a blacksmith herself.

He had no idea that she knew anything of the blacksmith's trade, but she'd been making something.

So he had to collect that, and also Cliff, the puppy.

* * *

Saibara looked around the cave.

For days of searching, with no food or water, he'd finally found it.

The cave that, in tales he'd read as a child, was supposed to contain the item he was searching for.

It was said to hold incredible power, and now he just had to find it.

He wondered what the glowing sphere he had found meant, but he had no time.

For all he knew, Mineral Town might already be gone.

So he had to hurry.

He took out his flashlight, and after a few minutes of searching, he found another room.

He entered it and heard the sound of a waterfall.

All of a sudden, he felt incredibly thirsty, but as he moved his flashlight towards the sound, the beam of light fell upon a stone.

But the stone was surrounded by four pillars of marble, and it shone like the moon.

He immediately knew that this was the stone from the tales he'd read.

He ran to it and picked it up, gazing at its rainbow-like skeleton, while at the same time, it looked pale and grey.

He slipped it into his rucksack, next to the glowing sphere.

Every now and then, Saibara would hear a voice come from the sphere.

Sometimes, the voices said, "Where are we?" and other times they would just grumble.

Right next to him, he saw the waterfall and he wished he could dive straight into the pool of refreshing water.

But he couldn't endanger the stone.

So after gulping down water, he headed for the exit.

Next stop, Mineral Town.

* * *

"Ow," Claire said as she was slapped awake.

She opened her eyes, immediately noticing that she was tied up again, but that she was no longer blindfolded.

She looked at the person in front of her, and gasped.

She just stared at Elli, who'd slapped her awake.

"What was that for?" she asked, deciding to freak out later.

"You wouldn't wake up," Elli said.

Claire turned her head around the room, seeing the door open, and two other people in the room.

Gray and Doctor were standing behind Elli, and they looked very exhausted.

Elli looked out of breath herself, but Claire decided that she had to have her first question answered right away.

"Why the heck did you guys kidnap me!" she shouted, demanding an answer.

"…We had a plan but now it is kind of… out of control," Doctor said.

"Listen, the plan we had is no longer important. But we need your help anyway," Gray said.

"Why would I help people who kidnapped me?" Claire asked.

"…I thought you'd… Well… The Mayor is angry with us… In a way… We need your help because… Gray says you're the only one who can," Doctor finally managed to say.

Elli then whispered something to Claire, which only those two heard, and Claire giggled.

She sighed after, and said, "Okay. I'll help you. But only because… Well, never mind. Where's Cliff! My dog."

"Ann has him," Elli said as she freed Claire the ropes binding her.

"I think we have a problem though, that we have to deal with. Right now. How do we beat the Mayor? As far as I can tell, he's invincible," Doctor said.

"Apparently. But that's only because- I mean, Claire can… help us," Gray said.

Elli, Doctor and Claire looked at Gray oddly, wondering what he was going to say.

"Anyway… Oh, and Claire? We weren't the ones who fed you, by the way," Elli said.

Doctor gasped and said, "…We forgot to feed her! For all the time she was here!"

"Don't worry. I've been for longer without food," Claire said.

"Right. Now, Doctor, Elli, take Claire downstairs, and wait. I have to do something before we set off to fight the Mayor," Gray said.

As the three of them left, Elli looked back and saw Gray take a blue notebook out of his pocket.

Then he shut the door and Elli turned back.

* * *

One hour later, the four were spread out around the hospital.

Most anticipated the fight to come, wondering what would happen.

Claire, on the other hand, was thinking about everything that had happened to her, as she didn't know the full seriousness of the situation.

Yet.

Ann was in the other room, still by her father's side, for he hadn't made a noise for the last five minutes.

As her worry turned to panic, she saw Claire out of the corner of her eye.

"Claire? Where have you been for the last couple of days?" Ann asked.

"I was kidnapped. But that doesn't matter. I mean… You know, we're going to face the Mayor soon. I just wanted to ask you…" Claire trailed off.

"What?" she asked, without anymore words on the end.

"If I don't come back, then will you look after Cliff? The puppy?" Claire said, which Ann just noticed was at her feet, pawing her shoes.

Suddenly, the whole situation seemed a lot more serious.

Not only was it possible they might die but…

Who cared if they died if they could never ever get Mineral Town back to the way it was.

Claire looked down at the puppy and sighed.

Cliff, the person, had entered her mind again.

Before she burst into tears, Cliff, the puppy, started barking hysterically.

Then he ran out the hospital door.

Claire chased after him until she couldn't keep up.

She saw the puppy leap off towards her farm, and onwards.

Claire worried for the puppy's safety, but she wondered where he was going.

It didn't matter right now, because they were all going off to face the Mayor.


	12. The Beast Within

"I want to come," Ann said to the group, who seemed to be preparing their weapons for the showdown.

"…But somebody has to stay behind and looked after Doug," Doctor said.

"Well… I will. I don't think I'd be too helpful to you anyway," Elli said.

The other four headed for the door, about to face the Mayor.

"Wait! What about you, Doctor? What will Mineral Town do without you?" Elli asked.

Doctor went silent as Elli stared at him, awaiting his answer.

Claire then walked up to Doctor and said, "Stay. Just us three should go."

She knew how Elli would feel if Doctor didn't return, because she'd gone through it with Cliff.

And anyway, the town needed Doctor.

He knew this, so he didn't argue.

He just sighed and walked over to Elli's side.

Claire looked over at Ann, who was at her side.

She looked sad, even though she was trying to hide it, and her cheeks were damp from tears.

Then Claire looked to her other side, where Gray stood.

He was holding that golden sword of his and it was clean of the Mayor's blood.

He seemed depressed, every now and then looking at the notebook in his pocket.

"This sword is incomplete, you know. I had hoped to have more time, time to finish it. But I guess that's not what fate had in store for us," Gray said.

Claire looked at him closely, never thinking of him as a person who believed in destiny before now.

And now the three of them faced the open hospital door.

They leaned out and looked towards the Mayor's house.

It looked tall, ominous and dark all of a sudden.

Gray looked at the two girls beside him and said, "Well, this isn't much of an army."

Then, from out of the shadows, Mary came.

She looked nervous, but that was to be expected, because since the Mayor took over, this was her first time out of the library.

She mumbled a few words, trying to form a sentence, until she finally said, "I want to help… Can I…?"

"What does that mean? You want to help fight the Mayor? Blood? Bruises? Possibly death?" Ann said, and Claire thought for a moment she might even be trying to scare her away.

"…Yes… I think," Mary said.

But before they could even accept or refuse her offer, Harris stepped forward.

"I want to come too. 'The Mayor' kicked me out a week ago, and it's cold. And the town is better off without him. Obviously," Harris said.

"Wait, isn't the Mayor your father? And isn't he inhuman? Doesn't that make you…" Gray trailed off.

Harris freaked out for a moment, but calmed down after thinking it through.

"I guess… Well, yeah, you can both come. I mean, our army is way too small, at the moment," Gray said.

Then Manna and Duke stepped out of the shadows.

"I assume you want to come too?" Claire asked.

"Yes. But we must! I mean, the winery is just… dead. And what about what he took from us! We've lost Cliff because of him. And, though we can't prove it, he took Aja too!" Manna shouted.

"Actually, he did take Aja from you…" Mary said.

"…I'm going to kill him!" Duke roared.

"Woah, woah! Look, you can come, but don't go on a rampage until then," Gray said.

Then, before anyone could even breathe another breath, Karen stepped forward.

"You? Why you? The Mayor did anything to you," Claire said.

"What! He tried to kill my parents yesterday! But of course, you weren't there to see it! And anyway, Mineral Town needs help. And I'm not a coward!" Karen shouted.

Rick stepped forward, nervously, after Karen said this.

"So you're the coward, I assume," Ann said.

"No! It's just… I've got to… Oh well, it doesn't matter. I'm coming," Rick said, mumbling from time to time.

Everyone stood in silence after Rick was finished, waiting for someone else to step forward.

"Okay, how about we just go," Claire whispered to the group.

They were about to, when someone did step forward.

"…" Manna and Duke said as they saw their daughter emerge from the shadows.

"…It'll take too long to explain my story… So… All I can say is… Hi," Aja said, exhausted, blood dripping from an unseen wound.

* * *

After Manna and Duke reunited with their daughter, the group was ready for battle.

At the start of this year, a lot of people believed in Mineral Town's peaceful exterior.

But now, there was no exterior, only the Mayor's evil everywhere you looked.

A lot of people had stayed back in the shadows, but enough people had come forward.

Gray was at the front of the group, leading them.

For some reason, Claire felt like this wasn't right, that she should be at the front.

She shook her head of thoughts of superiority, as the group headed for the Mayor's house.

Gray opened the door, and looked inside.

The darkness enveloped him, and something or someone pulled him in.

The group headed in after him, searching for any light.

And there before them, three glowing orbs were there.

A green orb, a blue orb and a red orb, all glowing.

"…Suddenly, I've got a bad feeling about this," Claire whispered to herself.

Claire slowly paced forward, but stopped when she noticed the orbs were moving.

She was sure Gray was standing right beside her, but all she could see in the darkness was the three glowing orbs.

Claire noticed that the orbs were moving towards each other, not just in random directions, and soon they had formed into one glowing, yellow orb of light.

There was a flash of white light, which everyone shielded their eyes against.

The next moment, the room was lit, and standing in the place of the yellow orb, was the Mayor.

Claire brandished her fists, as she had no weapon, and wished she had brought one of her farming tools along with her.

In the corner of her eye, Claire saw Gray brandishing his golden sword.

Behind her, the villagers of Mineral Town who had come were getting out weapons of their own and stepping forward as well.

Claire thought she might be the only one without a weapon.

The Mayor did not look frightened that there were this many villagers there; or that Aja had returned.

He looked gleeful, instead, and Claire was suspicious.

SLAM!

The door to the Mayor's house slammed shut behind them.

Claire's heart skipped a beat; she was sure this was the Mayor's plan.

But she knew that she had to pretend she wasn't scared.

The Mayor took a step towards her, and Claire would've stepped back but she noticed that she was surrounded by the villagers of Mineral Town; and she felt safer.

The Mayor glanced at Claire's white knuckles, and then said, "Claire. Claire, what's the point in fighting? You know you're going to lose, no matter how big an army you have."

Claire was silent, not daring to say a word; for she feared that maybe the Mayor was right.

"Who said we're going to lose!" Gray shouted.

"Gray. Young and foolish. And soon to be dead. Ha! You even made your own sword. How comical!" the Mayor laughed, and Gray was insulted.

"I'll have you know that this is the sword of the Harvest Godd-" Gray stopped mid-sentence.

Everyone was staring at him.

"The Harvest Goddess?"

"Are you saying you made it?"

The Mayor looked scared for a moment, but then his face broke into an evil grin.

"You're even stupider than I thought. I assume Saibara told you to make that; in a time of great danger? They all say that. And then they all died," the Mayor said, his teeth glinting maliciously.

Gray said nothing, but he looked pale and sick.

"It's time I dealt with you all. It's time you all died. But you'll be happy to know that you, Claire, will not die. I need you," the Mayor said.

"I don't want to live if I have to go on being your slave!" Claire shouted.

"Ha! You'll have no choice! And even if I do kill you, I can just use Ann. I'm sure she'll be my 'slave' if I agree to… heal her father," the Mayor said, his evil grin broadening.

Ann gasped, her eyes filled with terror and a spark of hope.

"Anyway, it's time I squashed the rest of you. I think it's about time to show you my true form," the Mayor said.

All of a sudden, his skin started bubbling, he sprouted inch after inch in height, he sprouted fur, his teeth lengthened into fangs, his eyes glinted red, and soon he looked like a cross between a brown bear and a wolf, but he was miles bigger than both creatures.

In the process of this change, the house burst apart and the Mineral Town villagers, watched from a distance.

Karen and Rick took one look at the Mayor's true form and ran for their lives.

Aja looked at her parents, and after a moment, she said, "Mother. Father. Go back to the winery."

"No, Aja! The Mayor must pay for what he's done!" Duke said, almost shouting.

"Dad! Please, go back home… I don't want you to die… Please…" Aja trailed off.

In the silence, Manna dragged Duke home with her, leaving Aja with the others.

Once they had left, the Mayor made a roaring sound, which Claire assumed was him laughing, because he had the same grin.

"You have no hope!" the Mayor roared. "You know you have no hope!"

"…Does anyone else want to leave?" Gray asked.

Everyone shook their heads and stepped closer.

"Wait!" someone from behind them shouted.

"What, does someone else want to join us? Couldn't you have come when everyone else was doing thi-" Gray was angry but when he saw who'd spoken, he looked sad.

But after a moment of this, he looked overjoyed.

Saibara had come to join them, after several days of trekking back to Mineral Town.

Gray didn't even get to say hello before Saibara went on, "Did you make the sword?"

"Uh… Yeah," Gray said, and gave Saibara the golden sword.

The Mayor roared and stretched one of his long claws out to scratch them.

"Ah! Someone! Keep him at bay!" Saibara said, whispering so the Mayor couldn't hear.

Ann nodded and raced forward to distract the Mayor.

Harris, Aja and Mary came after her, as backup.

As they were dodging the Mayor's attacks and damaging him, Saibara reached into his rucksack and pulled out the stone.

He placed it careful into the hilt of the sword, and it fitted perfectly.

The sword glowed brightly, all the colours of the rainbow, and then it faded back to gold.

"It works! Can it beat the Mayor?" Gray asked.

"Unless the tales are wrong… And his name isn't 'the Mayor'," Saibara said.

"You mean, his name is Thomas, right?" Claire said.

"No! His real name is-" but Saibara never got to disclose that piece of information, because the Mayor clawed at them again.

They were missed, but only by an inch or so.

Saibara was in a panic as he said, "We better finish him off quick. Here, stab him in the heart with the sword."

And he handed the sword to Claire.

"What? But, why her? I thought I was supposed to finish him off," Gray said.

"You? Ha! No, of course not! It was Claire. She's the only one who can," Saibara said.

Gray looked sad but accepted this.

It was that, or the end of the world.

"Wh- What am I supposed to do? With this?" Claire asked.

"Stab him in the heart," Saibara repeated.

Claire looked up, and up, and up, until she could see where she assumed the Mayor's heart was.

"How am I supposed to reach it?" Claire asked, terrified.

"…I don't know," Saibara said.

"You don't know? Well, that's no help," Claire said.

She looked back down and saw that the other four weren't likely to last much longer.

She was going to have to try.

But how?

Gray went to join the other four at distracting the Mayor, and Saibara just collapsed.

He was exhausted after the long hike back to Mineral Town.

He just wanted to sleep for a very long time.

"Uh… Mayor?" Saibara heard Claire say.

He opened his eyes and watched as Claire stood before the Mayor, the sword hidden behind her back.

"What? Have you changed your mind?" the Mayor roared, turning from the others.

"…Yes. I will join you," Claire said.

"What?" Saibara heard Ann scream.

"But! First turn back into your human form," Claire said.

The Mayor looked extremely suspicious, so Claire said, "I can't talk to you when you look like that."

The Mayor still looked suspicious, but in five seconds, he was the same short, top-hatted Mayor they all knew.

Claire walked up to the Mayor, and watched as his mouth spread into its familiar evil grin.

Claire shut her eyes, tried to remain calm, and, as swift as she could, she whipped the Harvest Goddess sword out from behind her back and stabbed the Mayor's heart.

She shoved it with all her might, until she was sure it'd gone through him entirely.

Everyone looked shocked.

Claire was shocked enough that she had committed murder, but was soon surrounded by the familiar faces of the Mineral Town villagers.

Not just the ones who'd helped in the fight, but the rest, as well.

"…Is he dead?" Claire asked, the only one brave enough to be that close.

"I think so," Gray said, staring into the pool of purple blood that coated the ground.

They were all about to turn and head back, when Claire screamed.

The Mayor's hand grabbed a hold of her foot, and he was dragging her away.

Before anyone could rush forward and help her, there was a BANG!

Claire felt the Mayor's hand loosen, and knew he was dead for real.

She looked up at the villagers, and noticed that Ann had fainted.

The rest of them looked pale, as though they would collapse soon, too.

Then Claire looked over to where the shot had come from…

"CLIFF!" Claire yelped.

She leapt to her feet and ran towards Cliff, the person, and Cliff, the puppy, who was sitting at his feet.

Cliff dropped the gun he was holding and stared at Claire.

For a moment, he looked like he might faint as well, but then he grinned.

They both had feared the other to be dead.

Claire, having reached Cliff at last, threw her arms around him, and cried tears of joy.

All the other villagers shrugged and went back to their homes, leaving the two to their reunion, except for the few who wanted to reunite with Cliff as well.

Saibara was especially suspicious of Cliff.

How had Cliff walked in and shot the Mayor once, and killed him, if the Harvest Goddess sword couldn't do it? he thought.

But nobody cared about that.

Everyone was so happy that Cliff wasn't dead and that the Mayor was, that they wouldn't care if the person next to them suddenly died of natural causes.

Claire, out of everyone, was the happiest.

She never wanted to let go of Cliff, ever, ever, ever.

Nothing bad could happen now.

Mineral Town was safe, and it would return to normal, and it would be rebuilt.

Claire had a feeling that Doug would fully recover.

Everything was perfect.

Except maybe…

Well, there were so many questions left unanswered…

THE END.

* * *

A/N: No, seriously. The end.


	13. Explanations

_A/N: This chapter is all about information. It will begin with what happened to Cliff and how he managed to return to Mineral Town, so abruptly._

* * *

Cliff's eyes opened, and he felt the harsh cold of a blizzard.

The last thing he remembered before waking up here was the Mayor grinning evilly.

He rubbed his eyes to see better, but when he looked around; he couldn't see anything but white.

After blinking a few times, he realized that this was because he was surrounded by snow.

There was a whirlwind of snow flying towards him from every angle, and his skin had a layer of frost on it.

He hadn't even noticed the cold until he figured out that the white was snow.

He tried to stand up and run in any which direction, but he was frozen into place.

Cliff was at the point of wondering if he'd die out there, when he heard the barks of a puppy.

It was barking wildly, uncontrollably, and it was coming from up ahead.

Sure enough, only a few moments later, Cliff saw the outline of puppy leaping towards him.

What's a puppy doing in the middle of a blizzard? Cliff asked himself, as the puppy licked his fingertips.

He felt much warmer when the puppy arrived, and could move slightly.

It took awhile, but eventually Cliff was trudging through the snow with the puppy galloping by his side, barking crazily.

* * *

_A/N: The rest of it is too difficult for me to write with much or any dialogue so I'll just write it…_

* * *

Cliff walked through the snow for a long time; the puppy that had appeared out of nowhere always by his side.

Finally they came to a strange looking building and once Cliff found the entrance, he entered with the puppy in his arms.

There he met two people and discovered some unfortunate news.

After speaking with them for awhile about all that he knew, he found out that he had woken up in the middle of Antarctica, but he had no idea what Antarctica was.

When he asked about a place called Mineral Town, his new acquaintances asked what country it was in.

After thinking about it, Cliff asked, "What's a country?"

At the end of the conversation, Cliff knew a lot of strange things, but the only thing that meant anything to him was that he might never be able to get back to Mineral Town.

What about Claire? Around this time, Cliff decided to name the puppy Claire (I don't think anyone cares what gender this dog is).

Many weeks passed. Cliff got out of Antarctica, but he didn't know any of the other strange places in the world.

Where was he? Maybe he wasn't even in his own world anymore…

He didn't have any money so he decided he would have to go back to wandering from town to town until he found something about Mineral Town.

But the day he was to set off on his new journey, he was met with incredible luck.

Actually, it was beyond luck that it was obvious she had sought him out; because Aja turned up in his presence.

Thought he didn't know her from the start, only a few words were needed before Cliff knew she had come from Mineral Town.

And then he got the truly incredible news.

Aja explained it all; the things only she and mythical beings like the Harvest Goddess knew.

Mineral Town, and some other places too, existed in a completely different world, known as Harvest Moon, or the Harvest Moon paradox.

But Aja knew how to get between the two worlds.

From there, Aja took Cliff and the little puppy, Claire, to Japan.

Then, after days of traveling, without Aja telling Cliff anything about what they were about to do, she said they'd arrived at their destination.

"Before we go through the portal, though, take this. You'll need it," Aja said.

Then she handed Cliff a revolver. Cliff didn't know how to hold it; he'd never even seen one in his life.

In fact, he asked Aja what it was. Aja explained and Cliff almost dropped it.

After that, they went back to the task at hand.

(I won't go into much detail about this. I mean, it's not like I know how to travel to other worlds.)

Aja said it was like opening a door. Turn the doorknob. Push the door open. Then go in.

Cliff watched as Aja opened an invisible door, stepped into a rectangle of whiteness, and then she and the rectangle was gone.

Cliff first stood staring at the empty air while at his feet, 'Claire' barked.

Then he tried imitating Aja, to no avail.

He stared at the puppy as if it should give him the answer, but it just stared back.

The day was drifting away as the sun began to set.

Cliff sighed, got to his feet and tried to open the invisible door one last time.

He failed. Thoughts filled his head; mostly of Claire, the person, crying or screaming in pain and fear.

Cliff, in his worry, stepped forward towards an imaginary Claire and tripped, right through the invisible door.

Aja wasn't waiting for him on the other side.

* * *

_A/N: That's basically all you need to know about what happened to Cliff during the story. This story does bring up the question, 'what's Aja's backstory, then?' However, if I ever do write that story, it will be for another day. As for the puppy, Cliff/Claire… It is basically the bond between Cliff and Claire, which is how it knew where Cliff was. How it managed to get to Antarctica, I don't know. It must be the kind of dog that lives in Harvest Moon. However, I do know how it crossed between the two worlds. It went through the dog flap._

_This next story is to explain the Mayor's… existence, really._

* * *

We know the stories of the Harvest Goddess well enough.

We know the Witch Princess is there to cause mayhem at the Harvest Goddess's side.

We know the Kappa… well, what does the Kappa do?

Anyway, there were more mythical beings than just these.

For example, there was once a fourth being of magical power, whom later came to be known as the Mayor.

(But I seriously cannot come up with a name for him.)

They all had their tasks to deal with, but soon enough, someone began plotting.

The Mayor began to scheme about what it would be like to overthrow the Harvest Goddess and have people worship him for a change.

But as he attempted to fulfill his plan, it turned out that they were ready for him, and they banished the Mayor into an orb of light.

How he escaped is not known by even the Goddess.

He was laying low in Mineral Town, but having no power irritated him, so he did everything he could to become Mayor.

He had followers, although most of them didn't know his true form was a gigantic monster.

After Carter was dealt with, the Mayor decided it was his chance.

He locked up the Harvest Goddess, the Witch Princess and the Kappa in an orb of light as revenge, as these had always been his three least favourite.

* * *

_A/N: I think that's all you need to know about the Mayor. Or maybe that's just everything I know about it…I didn't really think about a lot of stuff in my story, but I knew for ages what had happened to Cliff and who the Mayor really was. I don't know what to add next, so I'll just add what I do know happened to Aja._

* * *

Simple enough.

Aja wanted to leave for the city, but as she reached the edge of Mineral Town, she passed through the portal instead.

In the other world, she found tons of stuff to do, but was always curious about where Mineral Town was.

She had dreams about the Harvest Goddess, who told her about the Harvest Moon Paradox, so she learnt all she knows about it in her dreams (she knows more than she told Cliff.)

After a long time, she went searching for the place she had entered this world and after that, she could pass through the two worlds.

* * *

_A/N: Just so you know, the reason the plot chased its tail was because I originally had something completely different planned, but I didn't think anyone who read it would like it, especially since Cliff and Claire wouldn't like each other in the story from then on, so I changed the plot._

_If there's anything you want to know about the story 'Mr. Carter Told Me To' just tell me, since this is the last time I'll update it otherwise._


End file.
